ACLU says US police use AI plate readers to stop drivers
This month, a jury in Texas sided with a man who sued about a traffic stop that began with an AI flag on his plate.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a US rights group. On Monday it warned that police in the United States use plate readers and AI tools to stop drivers. The drivers are not suspects in a crime. In September 2025, an FBI agent stopped Grace Knowles because her plate had a flag for suspicious travel.
How it works
Cameras read each plate as a car goes by. They keep the time and the position. Police examine this data. At this time AI tools mark travel patterns. Flock Safety and Axon sell these systems. WIRED reports that Flock made an AI tool that identifies drivers and monitors vehicles from their movement patterns alone.
The numbers
A poll in August found that 46% of persons oppose this technology in their area. 38% agree. The Los Angeles Police Department and other police groups stopped or ended Flock contracts.
What is not known
The source gives no count of stops that began with a flag. Flock did not reply immediately. The ACLU tells that such stops can become more frequent. This is a claim of risk, not a measured trend.
Insight: Sellers add pattern tools while buyers and courts push back
Flock has fewer police customers. A Texas jury sided with a driver whom police stopped after a plate flag. WIRED reports that Flock has a tool that follows vehicles by movement pattern. This reads as a seller that replies to less trust with a larger tool, and the legal risk can move to the police that use it. A buyer of pattern flags can face the same test.
Sources
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