Flock, a company best known for automated licence plate readers, is reportedly testing a new AI tool that can identify and locate people based on their driving patterns rather than just number plates. According to a Wired investigation, the tool – previously called Nightshift and now renamed OS Investigate – draws on a network of cameras across 6,000 communities to log drivers' movements, allowing police to find potential witnesses or suspects using only a physical description, location and timeframe, with no crime or licence plate required to begin a search.

The system includes a chatbot allowing officers to type prompts such as requests to find vehicles seen most often in a given neighbourhood over a set period, then cross-references results with police case files, 911 logs and commercial identity records to reveal names, addresses and even relatives or friends. Flock says it is testing the product with select law enforcement partners and stresses current capabilities may not reflect the eventual commercial version, but has not disputed the reported functions. Critics, including a former police officer and an ACLU attorney, warn the tool's unrestricted prompts could enable officers to go "fishing" for patterns without any underlying crime, raising fresh concerns after separate reports of Flock camera misuse by police in Massachusetts and calls for a usage pause in Ohio.