Colorado Woman Sues Flock Safety Over Wrongful Theft Accusation Tied to License Plate Reader

Chrisanna Elser filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Denver on behalf of herself and other Coloradans whose plates Flock has logged, according to Gizmodo. The accusation against her rested on a hit from a Flock Safety automated license plate reader, and a Ring camera video of her being handed the summons circulated online.

The package in question was worth $25. The Colorado Sun reported that Sgt. Jamie Milliman told Elser that Bow Mar's surveillance cameras captured her forest green Rivian driving through town the same day a package disappeared. Elser said she then spent two weeks trying to prove her innocence to a department that did not return her calls, and that when she offered footage from her Rivian's onboard cameras, Milliman told her she could bring it to court.

The claims against Flock are intrusion upon seclusion, negligence and negligent design, on the theory that the company sold a searchable archive and refused to require a warrant, a case number or a supervisor's sign-off before an officer could run a plate. Elser is asking the court to make Columbine Valley, Bow Mar, Chief Bret Cottrell and Flock delete the retained location data, to bar them from keeping it unless it is tied to an open case number, and to require Flock to demand a warrant, a case number and a supervisor's approval before a Colorado agency can search the system.

"The scariest part is what happened to me can happen to anyone," Elser said in a statement Tuesday. "I had no idea the Flock cameras existed and no idea a private company was keeping a record of every time I drove past my own neighborhood, or that any officer could pull it up without asking anyone or giving a reason for doing so. If it can happen to me, it can happen to you."

Flock's public relations manager, Paris Lewbel, said in a statement that the company disputes the case. "As noted in the complaint, the Flock system accurately identified the location of Ms. Elser's vehicle, while law enforcement retained responsibility for interpreting and weighing that information as part of the broader investigation," Lewbel said. "Flock stands by the accuracy and integrity of its technology and intends to vigorously defend itself in this litigation."

Elser's attorney said in a statement that the company's records give police unrestricted access to detailed movement histories. "Coloradans pass Flock's cameras on the way to work, church, the doctor, a protest, and a friend's house, and Flock keeps a detailed record of their every movement," the attorney said. "It knows where you went, when you went there, and how often you go back, and it gives that information to a police officer with no limits. We are asking a federal court to say what should be obvious: Flock's surveillance is straight-up creepy and the government does not get to follow everyone, all the time, without any reason for doing so."

According to Gizmodo, Elser is not the only person suing Flock over a mistaken accusation. Last week a Florida woman sued the company over its role in a police officer accusing her of a crime she did not commit.

Editor's Summary

Chrisanna Elser, a Colorado woman wrongly accused of stealing a $25 package, is suing Flock Safety, the towns of Columbine Valley and Bow Mar, and two officers in federal court over a warrantless license plate reader search. She seeks deletion of retained location data and new requirements that a warrant, case number and supervisor approval precede searches. Flock says its system accurately located her vehicle and that police bear responsibility for interpreting the data, and the case follows a similar suit filed in Florida.