{"rewrite":{"id":"r_bdc9dc9cc6126ec39514ea3e","clusterId":"c_0831725a363b3e77b7044b50","slug":"eff-records-show-police-logged-lmao-and-idk-as-reasons-for-flock-camera-searches","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"Eff Records Show Police Logged LMAO And IDK As Reasons For Flock Camera Searches","summary":"Public records obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show police officers entered strings like \"LMAO,\" \"IDK,\" \"hehe,\" and \"asdfg\" as their stated reasons for searching Flock Safety's license plate camera network. The data also contains insults and random keyboard mashing. Departments in Colorado, California, and Missouri responded to the EFF with explanations that include counseling and a promised investigation.","whyItMatters":"The search reason field exists to document why police pull surveillance data, so records showing it filled with jokes and insults suggest the accountability mechanism was decorative for the officers using it.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eThe reason field in Flock Safety\u0026#39;s license plate search system is meant to record why an officer pulled camera data. The EFF\u0026#39;s public records request returned entries reading \u0026#34;LMAO,\u0026#34; \u0026#34;LOL,\u0026#34; \u0026#34;hehe,\u0026#34; \u0026#34;haha,\u0026#34; \u0026#34;idk,\u0026#34; \u0026#34;tbd,\u0026#34; plus random strings like \u0026#34;hjhjjkh\u0026#34; and \u0026#34;ghjhghjg,\u0026#34; alongside insults including \u0026#34;d*ckhead,\u0026#34; \u0026#34;sh*thead,\u0026#34; \u0026#34;sexy,\u0026#34; and \u0026#34;idiot.\u0026#34; The Thornton Police Department in Colorado, which logged \u0026#34;driving around being weird,\u0026#34; told the EFF the purpose was a \u0026#34;legitimate public safety purpose\u0026#34; and said officers now pick from a list. Richmond Police in California, which logged \u0026#34;hehe\u0026#34; and \u0026#34;idk,\u0026#34; said the people involved received counseling.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"EFF records show police entered \"LMAO,\" \"IDK,\" \"hehe\" and \"asdfg\" as their reasons for searching Flock Safety's license plate camera network. Departments in Colorado, California and Missouri responded with explanations ranging from counseling to a promised investigation.","twitterPost":"EFF public records show police logged \"LMAO,\" \"IDK,\" \"hehe\" and \"asdfg\" as reasons for searching Flock Safety's camera network, plus insults and keyboard mashing. Thornton PD called it a \"legitimate public safety purpose\"; Richmond PD said staff received counseling.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"The EFF obtained ALPR search data from Flock Safety's camera network through public records requests and found the reason field filled with jokes, insults, and keyboard mashing. Departments in Thornton, Richmond, Corona, and Belton each gave the EFF a different account of what happened. An update at the end of 2025 changed the search reason to a selection from a list.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"GIGAZINE\",\"url\":\"https://gigazine.net/news/20260916-police-flock-use/\",\"title\":\"Police officers entered \\\"LMAO,\\\" \\\"IDK,\\\" and other junk as reasons for using Flock's surveillance camera footage\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4715,"outputTokens":659,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1789550070,"createdAt":"2026-09-16T09:10:17.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-09-16T09:13:21.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-16T09:13:21.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_0831725a363b3e77b7044b50","canonicalTitle":"Flockの監視カメラ映像使用理由を警察官が「LMAO(爆笑)」「IDK(知らない)」などと入力していたことが判明","representativeArticleId":"a_5cce4c098b823c6560eb1956","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"other\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-09-16T08:20:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-09-16T08:20:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-16T09:13:20.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"GIGAZINE","url":"https://gigazine.net/news/20260916-police-flock-use/","title":"Flockの監視カメラ映像使用理由を警察官が「LMAO(爆笑)」「IDK(知らない)」などと入力していたことが判明"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"other","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}