WorkSeptember 3, 2026via Wired AI
This Is Flock’s AI Search Tool for Cops
Why it matters
AI deployment in law enforcement raises questions about accuracy, bias, and surveillance scope — a real-world test of AI reliability when stakes are high and mistakes have legal consequences.
Key signals
- Flock's AI search tool monitors multiple camera feeds simultaneously
- Searches based on written descriptions of suspects/persons of interest
- WIRED reverse-engineered the tool from browser-side code
- Deployment: active use by police departments
- Real-time surveillance and facial matching capability
- Flock's AI search tool scans multiple camera feeds for people matching written descriptions
- WIRED reverse-engineered the tool from browser code
- Technology is being deployed to police departments
- Raises questions about accuracy, bias, and transparency in law enforcement AI
The hook
Police are now using AI to search surveillance footage by description. Flock's tool scans multiple cameras in real time for faces matching text queries.
WIRED rebuilt Flock’s latest search tool from code the company sends to a police officer’s browser. Its AI can keep watch across multiple cameras for anyone fitting a written description.