GoKawiilEngineer builds AI camera that tracks only police cars, draws visit from Canadian police
Canadian software engineer and YouTuber Anthony Sistilli built his own automatic license plate reader using a 4K surveillance camera and AI coding tools, configuring it to flag only police cruisers rather than ordinary vehicles. He tested the dashboard-mounted prototype in real traffic, refining it after early lag issues, and detailed the project in a YouTube video. Local police subsequently visited his home in September to question him about the device.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The project flips the logic of commercial surveillance systems like Flock Safety, which police use to track the public, by applying similar AI and camera technology to monitor law enforcement instead. The police visit suggests officers may view civilian-built tracking of their vehicles differently than they view their own surveillance networks, raising questions about accountability and reciprocity in license-plate monitoring. It also shows how accessible AI coding tools have made it for individuals to replicate surveillance technology once limited to specialized companies.
- A Canadian engineer built a homemade ALPR system designed to detect only police cruisers.
- The project used AI-assisted coding and a consumer 4K camera, highlighting how accessible surveillance tech has become.
- Police visited the creator's home after learning about the project, questioning his use of the system.
Reolink 4K PoE Security Camera — If you're intrigued by DIY surveillance projects like this one, a high-resolution PoE security camera is exactly the kind of hardware hobbyists use to get started with license-plate-reading experiments. Reolink's 4K cameras offer the sharp image quality needed for plate recognition and are easy to integrate with open-source AI software. It's a practical entry point into building your own smart camera setup at home.
See Reolink 4K PoE Security Camera on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: futurism.com — Joe Wilkins, 2026-10-13
Published there as: “Cops Not Happy When Man Creates Flock-Style Camera That Only Collects Police Plates”
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