{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-04T09:48:59.728Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"misread","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"contextual","evidence":"","year":"","response":"lawsuit","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":4,"coverage":{"cases":4,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":4,"regulatory":0,"minors":1,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":4,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2021-atherton-california-flock-alpr-misread-plate-gunpoint-stop-lawsuit-settled","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'At about 5:30 a.m. on April 16, 2021, an automatic license plate reader (ALPR) had misread'; 'over and ordered him at gunpoint to throw his keys out of the window, get out of the car, and lie on his stomach to be handcuffed.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'was stopped by local police at gunpoint, instructed to lie on the ground, and handcuffed.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In April 2021 Atherton police stopped the driver at gunpoint, made him lie on the ground and handcuffed him.","causal_attribution":"The lawsuit as reported by The Almanac and police records as reported by Business Insider."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'caused the ALPR to read the “H’s” of the license plate as “M’s.”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Police records show that the Flock camera confused an \"H\" for an \"M\"; officers noted that \"the Flock cameras misread\" the plate.'; 'The license plate in question was obstructed by dirt, causing one of the letters (H) to look like an M,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The license-plate reader misread the letter H on his dirt-obscured plate as M.","causal_attribution":"The driver's lawsuit (The Almanac) and police records and an Atherton police commander (Business Insider) agree on the misread and the dirt."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Records show that the case was settled on March 16, 2023, for $45,000.'; 'the Atherton police officers denied all allegations, as well as the injuries that'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'filed a lawsuit and settled with the town and police officers for $45,000.'; 'denies any wrongdoing and contends that it acted properly and lawfully.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"He sued three officers for unreasonable seizure and excessive force; the officers denied the allegations and the injuries claimed, and the case was settled on 16 March 2023 for $45,000, with the town denying wrongdoing.","causal_attribution":"Court records and the settlement agreement as reported by The Almanac; Business Insider reports the same settlement amount and the town's denial."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'matched them to the ones of a reported stolen vehicle.'; 'Atherton police followed the vehicle for several minutes but failed to visually verify what the ALPR had falsely captured, according to the suit.'; 'With the belief that they were pursuing a “high-risk felony stop,”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the suit, the reader matched the plate to a reported stolen vehicle, and officers followed the car for several minutes without visually verifying the plate before making what they believed was a high-risk felony stop.","causal_attribution":"The driver's lawsuit as reported by The Almanac."}],"effects":[{"label":"stopped at gunpoint, made to lie on his stomach and handcuffed after a license-plate reader misread his plate as a stolen car's","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.almanacnews.com/police/2024/02/12/atherton-officer-involved-in-the-arrest-of-m-a-student-also-named-in-lawsuit-over-unreasonable-seizure-and-use-of-excessive-force/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-10-04 from the Internet Archive 2026 capture (The Almanac, 12 February 2024, updated 16 February 2024); the live site returned HTTP 429. Draws on the amended complaint, the officers' answer and the settlement agreement.","independence_group":"atherton-2021-stop-lawsuit-records"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.businessinsider.com/flock-safety-alpr-cameras-misreads-2026-3","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-04 (Business Insider, 9 March 2026); full text present in the served page. Cites police records and an Atherton police commander.","independence_group":"business-insider-records-review"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["justice"],"unknowns":["The court and case number of the 2022 lawsuit; the complaint was not read.","The injuries he claimed; The Almanac says only that the officers denied them.","Whether The Almanac's unnamed automatic license-plate reader and Business Insider's Flock camera are the same device; Business Insider cites police records for the Flock identification."],"geography":{"basis":"The stop was made by Atherton, California, police (The Almanac; Business Insider), and the suit was brought against Atherton officers and settled with the town. The court is not named in the bodies read; US rests on the suit against a California town's officers.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional-use case consistent with the held Flock misread rows: the driver's lawsuit (The Almanac) and police records (Business Insider) describe a license-plate-reader misread that led Atherton officers to stop and handcuff him at gunpoint; the town settled for $45,000 while denying wrongdoing. He is not named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The lawsuit (The Almanac) says an automatic license-plate reader misread the dirt-obscured plate and matched it to a stolen vehicle; Business Insider, citing police records, identifies the camera as Flock's, reports that it confused an H for an M and that officers noted the Flock cameras misread the plate, and describes the cameras as AI cameras. The plate match against a stolen-vehicle record is the automated system's claim about his car; following without visual verification and the armed stop were officers' decisions.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Atherton, California: police stopped a driver at gunpoint in April 2021 and made him lie on his stomach to be handcuffed after a license-plate reader misread the letter H on his dirty plate as M and matched it to a stolen car; the town settled his lawsuit for $45,000 in 2023","summary":"At about 5:30 a.m. on 16 April 2021, according to a lawsuit reported by The Almanac, an automated license-plate reader in Atherton, California, misread the dirt-obscured plate of a driver's car, reading its letter H as M, and matched it to a reported stolen vehicle. Atherton police followed the car for several minutes without visually verifying the plate, then made a high-risk felony stop, ordering him at gunpoint to throw his keys out of the window, get out and lie on his stomach to be handcuffed. He sued three officers in 2022 for unreasonable seizure and excessive force; the officers denied the allegations and the injuries he claimed, and the case was settled on 16 March 2023 for $45,000. Business Insider, citing police records, reported in March 2026 that the misread came from a Flock camera and that officers noted the Flock cameras had misread the plate; an Atherton police commander said the plate was obstructed by dirt and that the town denies wrongdoing.","incidentDate":"2021-04-16","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2024-02-12","aiSystem":"Automated license-plate-reader camera in Atherton, California, identified by Business Insider from police records as a Flock Safety camera (which it describes as one of Flock's AI cameras), that misread the plate and matched it to a stolen-vehicle record","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers (reported)","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["loss_of_liberty"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"He was stopped at gunpoint, made to lie on his stomach and handcuffed after a misread license-plate alert, and his lawsuit claimed injuries that the officers deny (The Almanac; Business Insider). The town settled for $45,000 while denying wrongdoing.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the driver, stopped at gunpoint and handcuffed (The Almanac; Business Insider). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-CA","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_settled","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.almanacnews.com/police/2024/02/12/atherton-officer-involved-in-the-arrest-of-m-a-student-also-named-in-lawsuit-over-unreasonable-seizure-and-use-of-excessive-force/","primarySourceLabel":"The Almanac, 12 February 2024: Atherton officer involved in the arrest of M-A student also named in lawsuit over unreasonable seizure","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-04T03:31:59.236805+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:31:59.236805+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","misread","wrongful-stop","gunpoint","california","atherton","justice","made-claim-about","settlement"]},{"id":"2023-espanola-new-mexico-flock-alpr-misread-plate-sisters-handcuffed-lawsuits","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'pulled the sisters over July 23 on Calle Duran after they had passed through an intersection equipped with a Flock Safety camera, which incorrectly flagged their car’s license plate as belonging to a stolen vehicle, according to the lawsuits.'; 'officers pulled the vehicle over and handcuffed them before placing them in the back of police vehicles prior to discovering the error.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'when Flock notified police that her Kia was stolen.'; 'Body camera footage from the July 2023 stop shows officers stopping the sisters and ordering them to exit the car, before handcuffing them.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In July 2023 Española police stopped the sisters' car after a Flock camera alert identified it as stolen, and officers ordered both sisters out and handcuffed them, including the 12-year-old.","causal_attribution":"The lawsuits as reported, and Business Insider's separate review of the body-camera footage."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'The plate number ended in 2, which the camera incorrectly read as 7, according to the complaint.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'According to an incident report, the camera misread a \"2\" for a \"7.\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The camera misread a 2 on the plate as a 7.","causal_attribution":"The sisters' complaint (as reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican) and the police incident report (as reported by Business Insider) agree on the misread."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'compensation for personal injuries including “anxiety, fear, worry and restriction of movement.”'; 'Instead, officers handcuffed the girl and put her in the back of a different police vehicle, according to the complaint.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The sisters' lawsuits sought damages including compensation for anxiety, fear, worry and restriction of movement; the older sister had asked an officer to call their mother to collect the 12-year-old, and officers instead handcuffed the girl.","causal_attribution":"The sisters' complaints as reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Two Rio Arriba County sisters have filed lawsuits against the city of Española'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The family filed a lawsuit and settled with the city in 2025.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The family filed lawsuits against the city of Española and settled with the city in 2025.","causal_attribution":"Filing reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican; settlement reported by Business Insider without terms."},{"id":"c5","status":"disputed","evidence":[{"locator":"'Officers said the number was obscured by a license plate cover, though it'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Officers said a license plate cover obscured the number; Business Insider says the number is visible in the body-camera footage it reviewed.","causal_attribution":"Officers' explanation as reported by Business Insider, contradicted by Business Insider's own review of the footage."}],"effects":[{"label":"both sisters, one aged 12, handcuffed and held in police vehicles after a misread license-plate-camera alert flagged their car as stolen","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"lawsuits claimed anxiety, fear, worry and restriction of movement","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/sisters-sue-espa-ola-over-traffic-stop-they-say-was-illegal/article_1c949c30-ae3e-11ee-ad85-f71a8c9ecb1e.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-10-04 from the Internet Archive 2026 capture (Santa Fe New Mexican, 8 January 2024); the live site returned HTTP 429. Reports the two complaints and the attorney's comments.","independence_group":"espanola-sisters-lawsuits"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.businessinsider.com/flock-safety-alpr-cameras-misreads-2026-3","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-04 (Business Insider, 9 March 2026); full text present in the served page. Draws on its own review of body-camera footage and the incident report.","independence_group":"business-insider-records-review"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["justice"],"unknowns":["Settlement terms and date in 2025.","The state district court case numbers; the complaints were not read.","How long the sisters were held before officers found the error."],"geography":{"basis":"The stop took place on Calle Duran in Española, New Mexico; the sisters are from Rio Arriba County, and the suits were filed in New Mexico state district court (Santa Fe New Mexican).","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional-use case consistent with the held Flock misread rows: the sisters' lawsuits (Santa Fe New Mexican) and the police incident report and body-camera footage reviewed by Business Insider describe a Flock license-plate-camera misread that led officers to handcuff a 21-year-old and her 12-year-old sister. Neither sister is named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The sisters' lawsuits (Santa Fe New Mexican) say a Flock Safety camera incorrectly flagged the plate as belonging to a stolen vehicle, reading a 2 as a 7; Business Insider reports the incident report records the same misread and describes the cameras as Flock's AI cameras. The plate match against a stolen-vehicle record is the automated system's claim about the car; the decision to handcuff both sisters was the officers'.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Española, New Mexico: police stopped a 21-year-old woman and her 12-year-old sister in July 2023 and handcuffed both in the backs of police cars after a Flock license-plate camera misread a 2 on her plate as a 7 and flagged the car as stolen; the sisters sued the city and settled in 2025","summary":"On 23 July 2023 Española police officers pulled over a car driven by a 21-year-old woman with her 12-year-old sister as a passenger, after a Flock Safety camera at an intersection flagged the car's plate as belonging to a vehicle stolen in Rio Rancho. According to the sisters' lawsuits, reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican in January 2024, the camera had read a 2 on the plate as a 7, and officers handcuffed both sisters and placed them in the backs of separate police vehicles before discovering the error; the older sister had asked an officer to call their mother, who lived nearby, to collect the girl. The suits sought damages for anxiety, fear, worry and restriction of movement. Business Insider, which reviewed the body-camera footage and incident report, reported in March 2026 that officers said the number was obscured by a license plate cover although it is visible in the footage, and that the family settled with the city in 2025.","incidentDate":"2023-07-23","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2024-01-08","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader camera at an Española intersection (described by Business Insider as one of Flock's AI cameras) that misread the car's plate, matched it to a stolen-vehicle record and notified police","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["loss_of_liberty","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Both sisters, one of them 12, were handcuffed and held in the backs of police vehicles after the misread alert; their lawsuits claimed anxiety, fear, worry and restriction of movement (Santa Fe New Mexican). The family settled with the city in 2025 (Business Insider).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people, the sisters, both handcuffed and placed in police vehicles (Santa Fe New Mexican; Business Insider). Exact 2.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"US-NM","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_settled","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/sisters-sue-espa-ola-over-traffic-stop-they-say-was-illegal/article_1c949c30-ae3e-11ee-ad85-f71a8c9ecb1e.html","primarySourceLabel":"Santa Fe New Mexican, 8 January 2024: Sisters sue Española over traffic stop they say was illegal","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-04T03:31:48.559655+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:31:48.559655+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","misread","wrongful-stop","handcuffed","minor","new-mexico","espanola","justice","made-claim-about","settlement"]},{"id":"2024-toledo-ohio-flock-alpr-misread-plate-gunpoint-stop-police-dog-bite-charges-dropped","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'TPD was alerted to a stolen license plate by a FLOCK camera. It turns out, that information was wrong.'; 'With guns drawn, officers tell the driver multiple times to get out of the truck.'; 'was then arrested and charged with resisting arrest and obstruction.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'begins to kneel, an officer releases the K-9 on him, the footage shows.'; 'a traffic stop involving a K-9 on April 11, 2024.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"On 11 April 2024 a Toledo police officer, alerted by a Flock camera to a stolen plate, stopped the man's pickup; officers drew their guns and ordered him out, a K-9 handler released a police dog on him, and he was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and obstruction.","causal_attribution":"Police report and released body-camera footage as reported by 13abc and ABC News; both outlets rely on the same department records."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The FLOCK camera captured an image that came back to a Chevy Malibu but is pictured on the back of a late model red Dodge Ram pickup truck.'; 'So it was a misread. But I stopped it.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'was a \"mishit\" or \"misread\" by the license plate reader'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'A camera made by the technology startup Flock Safety misread the \"7\" on'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"The camera had misread the plate: the plate on the pickup was not the stolen plate, and the officer can be heard on body-camera audio calling it a misread.","causal_attribution":"Police records and body-camera audio as reported; Business Insider specifies the misread digit from police records."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'will receive a departmental reprimand for failing to visually verify the license plate with the information received from the license plate reader.'; 'determined officers who released a K-9 on a man during a traffic stop acted within TPD policy.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The Toledo police chief found the dog deployment within policy and said the officer who made the stop would be reprimanded for failing to visually verify the plate with the information from the license-plate reader.","causal_attribution":"Police chief's statement as quoted by 13abc."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'he was bitten seven times on his forearm and elbow by the K-9 after being pulled over on April 11 and has been unable to work since.'; 'traumatized for real'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The man told ABC News that the dog bit him seven times on his forearm and elbow, that he had been unable to work since, and that he was traumatized.","causal_attribution":"His own account to ABC News."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The bite caused serious injuries to his arm, and he lost feeling in his fingers, he said.'; 'He sold his truck to keep up with his rent'; 'He was eventually evicted'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Business Insider reports that the bite caused serious arm injuries and loss of feeling in his fingers, that he quit his lawn-care business and forklift job, sold his truck and was evicted.","causal_attribution":"His own account to Business Insider."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'prosecutors dropped the all the charges, including the later addition of Failure to Comply.'; 'The information from the camera turned out to be wrong and the license plate was not stolen.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Prosecutors dropped all charges against him, including a later failure-to-comply charge, on 19 August 2024.","causal_attribution":"His attorneys as reported by 13abc."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'it is commonly known throughout the Toledo Police Department that the Flock system is unreliable and often misreads license plates.'; 'He settled the case in October for $35,000.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"He sued the officer and the city, alleging that the Flock system was known in the department to be unreliable, and settled the case for $35,000.","causal_attribution":"Lawsuit allegation and settlement as reported by Business Insider; the complaint and settlement record were not read."}],"effects":[{"label":"held at gunpoint, bitten by a police dog and arrested after a misread license-plate-camera alert flagged his plate as stolen","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"says he was traumatized and unable to work after the bites","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"reported lasting arm injury and loss of his business, truck and home","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.13abc.com/2024/04/15/body-cam-tpd-officers-releasing-k-9-man-during-traffic-stop/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-04 (13abc/WTVG, 15 April 2024). Reports the police report and released body-camera footage.","independence_group":"wtvg-13abc-toledo-police-records"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://abcnews.com/US/man-speaks-after-police-release-9-traffic-stop/story?id=109463145","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-04 (ABC News, 20 April 2024). Interview with the driver plus its own review of the police body-camera footage.","independence_group":"abc-news-interview"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.13abc.com/2024/05/31/tpd-investigation-finds-no-wrongdoing-use-k-9-man-during-traffic-stop/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-04 (13abc/WTVG, 31 May 2024). Quotes the Toledo police chief's statement on the internal review.","independence_group":"wtvg-13abc-toledo-police-records"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.13abc.com/2024/08/19/charges-dropped-against-man-toledo-police-released-k-9-during-traffic-stop-lawyer-says/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-04 (13abc/WTVG, 19 August 2024). Reports the dismissal from the man's attorneys.","independence_group":"wtvg-13abc-toledo-police-records"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.businessinsider.com/flock-safety-alpr-cameras-misreads-2026-3","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-04 (Business Insider, 9 March 2026); the page is marked subscriber-only but the full article text was present in the served page and its JSON-LD articleBody. Draws on police records, the lawsuit and an interview.","independence_group":"business-insider-records-review"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["justice"],"unknowns":["The lawsuit's court and case number; the complaint and settlement record were not read.","Whether the misread came from plate condition, a plate cover or the camera itself; no source gives a cause.","How long he was held in the county jail beyond Business Insider's statement that it was hours."],"geography":{"basis":"The stop took place in Toledo, Ohio, and the man is described as of Toledo (13abc, ABC News); the charges were brought and dropped by local prosecutors and his lawsuit was settled before a federal judge (13abc; Business Insider).","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional-use case consistent with the held Flock misread rows: the police report, body-camera audio and the police chief's statement (13abc) establish that a Flock license-plate-reader alert misread the plate and prompted the stop; the man's own accounts to ABC News and Business Insider describe the injuries and losses. He is not named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The police report (as reported by 13abc) says officers were alerted to a stolen license plate by a Flock camera and that the information was wrong; on the body-camera audio the officer calls it a misread; the police chief reprimanded the officer for failing to visually verify the plate with the information received from the license-plate reader. Business Insider, citing police records, reports the camera misread a 7 as a 2 and describes the cameras as Flock's AI cameras. The plate match against a stolen-plate record is the automated system's claim about his truck; drawing guns, releasing the dog and the arrest were officers' decisions.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Toledo, Ohio: police stopped a man's pickup at gunpoint in April 2024 after a Flock license-plate camera misread his plate as stolen, released a police dog that bit him, and charged him; prosecutors dropped the charges and he later settled a lawsuit for $35,000","summary":"On 11 April 2024 Toledo police officers stopped a pickup truck after a Flock license-plate camera alerted them to a stolen plate. According to the police report and body-camera footage reported by 13abc and ABC News, the camera had misread the plate, which was not stolen. Officers drew their guns, ordered the driver out and to the ground, and a K-9 handler released a police dog as he began to kneel. The driver told ABC News he was bitten seven times on his forearm and elbow, was traumatized and could not work; he was arrested and charged with obstruction, resisting arrest and, later, failure to comply. Prosecutors dropped all charges in August 2024. The department found the dog deployment within policy and reprimanded the officer who made the stop for failing to visually verify the plate against the reader's information. Business Insider reported in March 2026 that police records show the camera read a 7 on the plate as a 2, that the man lost feeling in his fingers, gave up his lawn-care business and forklift work, sold his truck and was evicted, and that he had sued the officer and the city and settled in October for $35,000.","incidentDate":"2024-04-11","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2024-04-15","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader camera (described by Business Insider as one of Flock's AI cameras) that read the pickup's plate, matched the misread plate to a stolen-plate record and alerted a Toledo police officer","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["physical_injury","loss_of_liberty","psychological_distress","financial_loss","legal_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The driver was held at gunpoint, bitten repeatedly by a police dog, arrested and jailed for hours and charged; he says he was traumatized and could not work, and Business Insider reports lasting arm injuries, the loss of his business and truck, and eviction (his accounts to ABC News and Business Insider). The charges were dropped.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the driver, held at gunpoint, bitten and arrested (13abc, ABC News, Business Insider). His cousin was a passenger; no source reports harm to the cousin. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-OH","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_settled","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.13abc.com/2024/04/15/body-cam-tpd-officers-releasing-k-9-man-during-traffic-stop/","primarySourceLabel":"13abc (WTVG), 15 April 2024: Body cam of TPD officers releasing K-9 on man during traffic stop","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-04T03:31:44.811835+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:31:44.811835+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","misread","wrongful-stop","gunpoint","police-dog","ohio","toledo","justice","made-claim-about","settlement"]},{"id":"2024-york-county-sc-flock-alpr-misread-plate-gunpoint-stop-melvin-lawsuit","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'was stopped by a York County sheriff’s deputy on Feb. 14, 2024, while pulling into his apartment complex near Lake Wylie.'; 'received an alert from a Flock license plate reader that a stolen, dark-colored BMW sedan was traveling in the area, according to the filing.'; 'ordering him to kneel on the ground with his hands over his head for over five minutes, the filing said.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'approached Melvin with his firearm drawn and ordered him out of the car, according to the lawsuit.'; 'remained there for roughly five minutes while deputies checked his information.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'ordered him out of his car at gunpoint.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"According to the lawsuit, on 14 February 2024 a York County deputy who had received a Flock license-plate-reader alert for a stolen dark-coloured BMW approached Melvin's black BMW with his gun drawn as Melvin pulled into his apartment complex near Lake Wylie, and made him kneel with his hands over his head for more than five minutes until deputies established that the car was not stolen.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff's lawsuit as reported; the Post and Courier says he was handcuffed, the Herald and Military.com describe him kneeling. The complaint itself was not read."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The Flock camera incorrectly identified the first letter of the license plate.'; 'tinted license plate cover was illegal, and obscured the camera, according to the filing.'; 'correctly identified Melvin’s plate 13 times that month prior to the traffic stop, according to the filing.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The stop resulted from erroneous information associated with a Flock alert,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Flock camera misread the first letter of Melvin's South Carolina plate; the sheriff's office blamed an illegal tinted plate cover and its internal-affairs report says the stop resulted from erroneous information associated with a Flock alert, while an internal email cited in the filing says the cameras had read his plate correctly 13 times that month.","causal_attribution":"Filing and internal records as reported; the sheriff's office and the plaintiff disagree about why the plate was misread."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'said he suffered trauma and “emotional distress” because of the traffic stop.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'feared for his life and reasonably believed he could be shot.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Melvin says he suffered trauma and emotional distress and feared he could be shot.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiff's own account in the complaint."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'NOTICE OF REMOVAL from York County Court of Common Pleas, case number 2026CP4602329.'; 'Melvin v. York County Sheriff's Office, 0:26-cv-03474'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The defendants removed Melvin's suit from the York County Court of Common Pleas (case 2026CP4602329) to the US District Court for the District of South Carolina, where it is docketed as Melvin v. York County Sheriff's Office, 0:26-cv-03474.","causal_attribution":"Docket entry."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The York County Sheriff’s Office denies violating Melvin’s rights and has asked a federal judge to dismiss the case.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'The sheriff’s office found in November 2024 that'; 'actions were “reasonable” after Melvin filed an internal affairs complaint against them.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The sheriff's office denies violating Melvin's rights and has asked the federal court to dismiss the case; a November 2024 internal-affairs review found the deputy's actions reasonable.","causal_attribution":"Defendants' position as reported; no dismissal motion appears among the docket entries read (through 8 September 2026)."}],"effects":[{"label":"held at gunpoint and made to kneel for more than five minutes after a misread license-plate-reader alert flagged his car as stolen","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"says the stop caused him trauma and emotional distress","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/crime/article316428323.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-09-28 from the Internet Archive capture of 25 September 2026 (The Herald, Rock Hill, 9 July 2026); the live site timed out. Reports from the lawsuit and attached documents; includes a Flock statement.","independence_group":"melvin-lawsuit-filings"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.postandcourier.com/york-county/news/flock-license-plate-readers-york-county-cameras/article_21d1fac9-69b0-4706-93ab-f0e43c0ede6e.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28 (Post and Courier, 19 August 2026). Draws on the lawsuit and quotes the internal-affairs report; does not name the plaintiff.","independence_group":"melvin-lawsuit-filings"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.military.com/iraq-war-veteran-says-flock-camera-error-led-to-police-gunpoint-stop","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28 (Military.com, 16 September 2026). Relays the lawsuit and the Herald's reporting on the dismissal request.","independence_group":"melvin-lawsuit-filings"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74652791/melvin-v-york-county-sheriffs-office/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28: CourtListener docket for Melvin v. York County Sheriff's Office, 0:26-cv-03474 (D.S.C.); entries through 8 September 2026. No filed documents were available to read.","independence_group":"dsc-docket-0-26-cv-03474"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["justice"],"unknowns":["Whether Melvin was handcuffed as well as held kneeling (the Post and Courier and the Herald differ).","Whether the misread was caused by the tinted plate cover, the camera or both, and why the alert was not visually confirmed before the weapon was drawn.","The outcome of the dismissal request and of the suit."],"geography":{"basis":"The stop took place at Melvin's apartment complex near Lake Wylie, York County, South Carolina (Herald); the suit was filed in the York County Court of Common Pleas and removed to the US District Court for the District of South Carolina (docket).","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a contextual case consistent with the existing Flock rows: an automated plate reader misread a man's plate and flagged his car as stolen, and deputies held him at gunpoint. The account rests on his lawsuit and the sheriff's own records as reported, with the federal docket confirming the case. He is named as the plaintiff in his own suit.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-28"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"According to the filing reported by the Herald, the deputy acted on a Flock license-plate-reader alert for a stolen BMW; the camera misread the first letter of Melvin's plate, and the sheriff's internal-affairs report says the stop 'resulted from erroneous information associated with a Flock alert' (Post and Courier). The misread plate matched against a hotlist is the automated system's claim about his car. The sheriff's office attributes the misread to an illegal tinted plate cover; an internal email says the cameras had read his plate correctly 13 times that month. The decision to draw a weapon was the deputy's.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"York County, South Carolina: Iraq War veteran Steven Melvin says deputies held him at gunpoint and made him kneel for more than five minutes outside his Lake Wylie apartment complex in February 2024 after a Flock license-plate reader misread his plate and flagged his BMW as stolen; he sued in June 2026","summary":"According to a lawsuit filed on 29 June 2026 and reported by The Herald (Rock Hill), a York County sheriff's deputy stopped Steven Melvin, 42, on 14 February 2024 as he pulled into his apartment complex near Lake Wylie, after receiving a Flock license-plate-reader alert that a stolen dark-coloured BMW sedan was in the area. The deputy approached Melvin's black BMW with his gun drawn and aimed at him and made him kneel with his hands over his head for more than five minutes; after calling for backup and checking his information, the deputy determined the car was not stolen. The camera had read the first letter of his South Carolina tag incorrectly, matching a stolen BMW one letter off. A sheriff's internal-affairs review in November 2024 found the deputy's actions reasonable and blamed an illegally tinted plate cover, for which Melvin received a verbal warning; an email cited in the filing says the cameras had read his plate correctly 13 times that month. Melvin says the stop caused him trauma and emotional distress. The sheriff's office removed the case to federal court in August 2026 and denies violating his rights.","incidentDate":"2024-02-14","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-07-09","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license-plate reader (a camera the Herald describes as AI-enabled) that read passing plates, matched Melvin's misread plate against a stolen-vehicle hotlist record and sent an alert to the deputy","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["loss_of_liberty","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Melvin says he was held at gunpoint and detained kneeling for more than five minutes after a misread Flock alert and suffered trauma and emotional distress (his complaint as reported by the Herald and Military.com); the sheriff's office disputes that the stop was unlawful.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, Steven Melvin, detained at gunpoint (lawsuit via the Herald, Military.com, Post and Courier). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-SC","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/crime/article316428323.html","primarySourceLabel":"The Herald (Rock Hill), 9 July 2026: York man was held at gunpoint over incorrect Flock hit. Sheriff blames illegal tag cover","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-28T03:31:25.729021+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:16:54.634302+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","wrongful-stop","gunpoint","south-carolina","york-county","justice","made-claim-about","lawsuit"]}]}