BY BRAD HADFIELD

t should’ve been a normal day at Brown University. On Dec. 13, 2025, students were taking final exams and likely looking forward to the holiday break. But someone else was about to change lives and shatter the campus’ sense of security. A tall man dressed in black, his face obscured by a camouflage mask, entered the campus armed with a Glock 34 9mm semiautomatic pistol and opened fire, killing two people and wounding eight others. Then he disappeared.

Investigators had little to go on, but one clue would prove critical: a gray Nissan with Florida plates. Providence police searched for the vehicle using a network of Flock Safety cameras, eventually identifying its license plate and tracing it to a rental car. Less than a week after the shooting, investigators tracked the suspect to an Extra Space Storage unit in New Hampshire.

The technology that helped investigators get there wasn’t some futuristic surveillance system developed specifically for a massive manhunt. Flock cameras are automated license plate readers (ALPRs), increasingly used by law enforcement, communities, and private businesses to identify vehicles and assist in investigations.

And while the Brown case highlighted their potential in a horrific crime, the same technology is being used to solve a problem considerably more familiar to self-storage operators: burglary.

In August of this year, Pennsylvania police used Flock cameras after two men allegedly burglarized a self-storage facility. The system identified the black GMC pickup seen entering the property, allowing investigators to trace it to its registered owner. Police subsequently recovered items allegedly stolen from the facility, as well as additional stolen property reportedly stored in another unit.

That same day in Georgia, police tapped into the Flock technology to investigate a string of break-ins at Crazy Ray’s Self Storage. Security footage showed two men arriving in a Chevrolet Avalanche and breaking into 10 to 15 units, but a nearby Flock camera provided something considerably more useful: the vehicle’s license plate. Police said the evidence helped identify a suspect who was also linked to another theft investigation.

Three investigations of dramatically different severity, but each illustrates what has made ALPR technology such a powerful law enforcement tool: It can turn a vehicle into a trail. So why are they also considered controversial?

Flock cameras are automated license plate readers (ALPRs), but they can capture considerably more information than a plate number. Using AI, the cameras can identify a vehicle’s make, model, color, and distinguishing characteristics, such as dents, bumper stickers, or roof racks, while recording when and where the vehicle was seen.

Unlike traditional surveillance cameras that continuously record video, Flock cameras capture still images of passing vehicles. That information is stored in a cloud-based system that authorized users can search during investigations. The technology can also generate real-time alerts when a plate matches law enforcement information associated with a stolen vehicle, Amber Alert, or other investigation.

For self-storage operators, the appeal is obvious. A conventional security camera might show a black SUV entering a property shortly before several units are burglarized, while an ALPR can potentially give investigators the plate and identifying characteristics they need to determine which black SUV they’re seeking.

That’s what’s made Flock one of the more controversial surveillance technologies in the country. Privacy advocates have raised concerns about the collection and retention of vehicle-location data and the ability of a large network of cameras to reconstruct where a vehicle has traveled, even when its owner isn’t suspected of a crime. Some consider this an abuse of power. A Washington Post investigation found nearly 50 cases of officers charged with or accused of misusing the cameras, many involving tracking current or former romantic partners. The Institute for Justice also keeps a public database of more than 150 documented cases nationwide, sorted into four types (stalking, non-law-enforcement use, misread errors, and other misuse) drawn from media reports and public records.

The backlash continues to grow, with residents vandalizing the cameras and many cities terminating contracts due to public outcry. Justin Insalaco, a retired police officer and board member with Crime Stoppers, thinks it’s ridiculous.

“The people that have a problem with this—it’s a joke. They do way more to help the community and solve crimes than they do to create a privacy concern,” he says.

Insalaco points out that consumers already encounter license plate readers and other forms of tracking in everyday life, from toll roads to private businesses to the phone we all carry. “You know that thing is traceable and tracking you.” What makes ALPR particularly valuable to law enforcement, he says, is its ability to turn a vague vehicle description into something investigators can actually pursue.

“If you own a self-storage facility and you’re worried about security and thefts, and you don’t have an ALPR camera, what are you doing?” Insalaco asks. “It doesn’t have to be Flock. I’m not trying to promote Flock. I don’t think the brand matters.”

For self-storage operators, Insalaco says that doesn’t necessarily mean replacing an entire surveillance system. An ALPR camera positioned at a facility’s entrance and exit can complement conventional cameras throughout the property. If surveillance footage captures a vehicle near a burglarized unit but can’t provide a readable plate, the ALPR system at the gate may provide the identifying information investigators need. “I wouldn’t own a self-storage place without having some kind of ALPR camera at my gate where people are coming in and out,” he says. “Otherwise, what are you going to give to the cops? A description such as a black GMC isn’t very useful, but a license plate can give investigators somewhere to start.”

That capability is also at the heart of the controversy surrounding Flock Safety. Unlike a camera system confined to one property, Flock built a network that can allow participating law enforcement agencies to search vehicle sightings across jurisdictions. Insalaco considers that interoperability one of the technology’s greatest strengths, particularly because criminals don’t conveniently remain within municipal boundaries.

Flock Safety did not respond to MSM’s request for comment, but CEO Garrett Langley recently addressed both the company’s mission and the growing privacy concerns in an interview with Fortune. “Every day, Flock helps solve crimes that would otherwise go unsolved,” Langley told the publication, pointing to cases involving missing children, murders, violent crime, and stolen vehicles. “That impact is why we started Flock, and it drives every decision we make about how this technology should be built and governed.”

The company has also responded to concerns over who can access ALPR data and how it can be used. Langley told Fortune that Flock has introduced additional privacy protections and measures intended to address misuse by law enforcement officers. “Local communities, not Flock, decide their sharing rules, offense filters, and retention windows,” he said. “Our job is to give them better tools that reflect their needs and values of their communities and to help hold individuals accountable when someone misuses the system.”

Insalaco agrees that safeguards are necessary, but he believes Flock hasn’t always helped itself in communicating with a skeptical public. “I think they brought a lot of these problems on themselves, to be honest, by the way that they responded,” he says.

Still, Insalaco distinguishes criticism of Flock from criticism of ALPR technology itself. “I’m not saying Flock,” he says. “The attack on the actual technology itself, meaning the ALPR system, is the thing that I’m opposed to. If you’re not using ALPRs, I think that’s a mistake.”

There is one limitation Insalaco sees in today’s application of the technology: Much of its value remains reactive. An ALPR camera can help identify a vehicle after a burglary, but the crime has already occurred. Connecting ALPR technology across participating facilities, he says, could change that equation. He considers the benefits of an industry-specific network allowing participating operators to flag vehicles associated with previous incidents. “This way, if the same vehicle later appeared at another participating facility, the system could alert the operator before another crime occurred.”

For an industry that has invested heavily in gates, cameras, and access controls, ALPR seems to be asking the question: What if the next generation of security systems didn’t just record who entered a facility but recognized a potential threat before the gate ever opened?