A Cop Searched 19,000 Flock Cameras Across 1,558 Cities. His Reason: 'LMAO'

A routine police search of a licence plate reader network might be for a stolen car or a wanted suspect, but a record from July 2025 shows an officer with the Lake County, Indiana, Sheriff's Department searched for a plate across more than 19,000 Flock Safety cameras covering 1,558 cities and towns — with the reason field filled in as "LMAO". That case was among dozens identified by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in an analysis of Flock's search logs, which show officers entering jokes, gibberish and other seemingly unserious terms into a field intended to document why a search was run.

The EFF's review covered searches from police departments across the country between 2023 and late 2025, when Flock changed how the reason field worked. Logged entries included "LMAO", "LOL", "Hehe", "Haha", "idk" and "blah", along with strings such as "asdfg" and apparently random keyboard characters. One officer wrote: "robbery I don't remember the case number leave me alone". The analysis also found more than 6,300 searches across more than 30 agencies that used "TBD" as the stated reason. Flock's technology uses automated licence plate readers (ALPRs) to collect vehicle-related information and lets law enforcement agencies search data gathered by cameras across jurisdictions — something the EFF says can expose sensitive location information and raises concerns about the lack of judicial oversight around ALPR searches.

In late 2025, Flock replaced the free-text reason field with a list of pre-populated categories officers select before searching. The EFF called that change a "loss for transparency", arguing that picking a generic category may reveal less about a search's actual purpose. The EFF also contacted departments whose officers appeared in its analysis; some said the officers had been counselled, while others said they would investigate or review the searches.

The findings add to broader concerns about the expanding use of ALPR technology and how police departments oversee access to the resulting data. The controversy comes amid high-profile political support for Flock: President Donald Trump publicly endorsed the company in remarks to reporters on Sunday, saying "I sort of like them because of that, because of law enforcement, but some people don't", adding "They think it's an infringement" and "I like them." According to Futurism, citing The Washington Post, it was the first time Trump had publicly endorsed Flock, and the report said Flock's network had grown to more than 120,000 cameras. The "LMAO" entry does not establish why the officer actually searched.