An Institute for Justice review finds at least 27 documented cases since 2018 — mostly since 2023 — of innocent motorists stopped, detained, or jailed due to automated license plate reader (ALPR) errors, chiefly involving market leader Flock Safety. In nearly two-thirds of these cases, officers drew firearms on innocent people before discovering their mistake, including an Arkansas couple held at gunpoint with their infant in the car after a one-letter plate misread. Flock claims 93% read accuracy, but its 20-billion-scan monthly volume implies well over a billion inaccurate reads. Roughly two-thirds of documented errors stem from human mistakes — bad data entry or unconfirmed ‘hits’ — not machine misreads alone, as in a San Diego man jailed nearly a month over a mismatched car. Oak Park, Illinois, the only jurisdiction publishing regular error reports, found no evidence Flock cameras solved any crime and cancelled its contract.