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Tech News
Artist Morry Kolman released a Grand Theft Auto V mod called Grand Theft Automated License Plate Reader, which scatters 235 replica Flock Safety cameras across Los Santos and rewards players $600 for each one they destroy. The mod also mimics real-world surveillance behavior, extending police chase cooldowns near cameras and occasionally triggering false police responses to mirror reported ALPR errors.
404 Media has uncovered that Border Patrol operates secretive 'Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams' (PITT) that analyze Americans' financial records and other personal data to flag individuals for local police to stop, even without suspicion of a specific crime. In one documented case, a PITT's analysis of a Montana driver's finances led local police to pull him over on a pretextual charge of an obstructed license plate, resulting in a DUI arrest. PITT units have been identified operating in Washington's Spokane Sector and Texas's Laredo Sector, expanding on prior reporting about Border Patrol's use of automatic license plate readers for similar predictive targeting.
Grass Valley Police Department ended its contract with Flock Safety and removed the company's license plate cameras, but Flock reinstalled at least two of them without authorization weeks later. Flock says its automated maintenance system misread the city's early camera removal as an equipment failure, triggering repair crews to dispatch and replace units. GVPD says it continues to monitor for and remove any cameras Flock puts back up.
Colby Williams, 25, was arrested in Georgia on multiple felony charges including arson and criminal damage to property after police say he set fire to three Flock automated license plate readers, melting at least one down to slag. A nearby fourth camera was found riddled with bullet holes, and one melted pole bore a 'DeFlock' sticker. Investigators identified Williams partly through footage from the very cameras he allegedly destroyed.
A developer released VODForge, a free and open-source desktop application that lets users download YouTube videos and playlists as MP4 files or MP3 audio. The app runs locally, offering controls for quality, download queues, metadata, and cover art without requiring an online converter or command-line tools. It is MIT licensed, requires no account, and ships signed and notarized for macOS with Authenticode signing on Windows.
404 Media reported that surveillance firm Flock ran a webinar last year instructing law enforcement on monitoring the 'No Kings' anti-Trump protests, as well as ordinary gatherings like parades and fireworks shows. In the session, Flock's Caity Peak demonstrated FlockOS, a platform merging license plate readers, drones, gunshot sensors, 911 data and outside camera feeds into one dashboard, using Denver's protest response as a live example.
A veteran software publisher with 28 years of experience has moved from permissive licenses like LGPLv2 and MIT to the EUPL-1.2, a strong copyleft license issued by the European Union. The change closes what the developer calls the 'SaaS loophole,' requiring companies to share modifications even when software is only used as a service rather than distributed.
Napoleon Jones, a Navy veteran, was filming a traffic stop from a private parking lot in Sussex, Wisconsin, when a Waukesha County deputy turned around and detained him instead, later pulling him from his car and arresting him for 'resisting and obstructing.' Jones was released after five hours with no charges, and an internal memo confirmed the stop was illegal, but records show his vehicle was subsequently searched via Flock license-plate-reading cameras more than 100 times.
Following Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's move to remove Flock license plate readers from state roads, sheriff's offices in several Florida counties followed suit. Dallas police shut down over 300 Flock cameras after Governor Greg Abbott cut state funding, while a dozen Wisconsin agencies suspended their contracts, joining cities like Appleton, Oshkosh and Kenosha that had already dropped Flock.
Florida's Department of Transportation issued a memo revoking permits for automatic license plate readers, including Flock Safety cameras, on state-controlled roads. Law enforcement agencies have 30 days from August 31 to remove the devices, and the agency says it will stop approving new permit requests going forward.
Jevon Martinez filmed himself dismantling automatic license plate reader towers that Bernalillo County had left standing despite cancelling its contract with surveillance company Flock earlier this year. He then drove a truck bed full of the dismantled equipment to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department, framing it as returning the devices, and was arrested there at gunpoint by deputies in tactical gear.
WIRED obtained and analyzed Flock Safety's police surveillance software, revealing tools that let officers set up automated, ongoing searches across camera networks for people matching a written description, not just vehicle plates. The company added safeguards in August—shorter data retention, mandatory case codes, and automated audits—after facing canceled contracts, congressional scrutiny, and a finding that Illinois camera data reached federal immigration agents in violation of state law.