A Florida woman told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee Wednesday that a Flock automated license-plate-recognition camera wrongly tied her vehicle to a deadly crash, resulting in her arrest on three counts of vehicular homicide and nearly two weeks behind bars before the state declined to prosecute her.
Lindsey Isaacs, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism at a hearing examining Flock's nationwide AI surveillance network, described a sequence of events beginning on October 4, 2025, when she said she spent the day cooking with her mother at her Palm Coast, Florida apartment before driving to a store in Davenport.
Verified quote:I later learned that a Flock automated license plate recognition camera had captured my Dodge Durango approximately two to three miles west of the crash scene. Investigators were looking for a black Dodge Durango.
Isaacs testified that witnesses had told investigators the vehicle involved in the crash was maroon, not black, and that 911 callers had provided a partial license plate number. Nevertheless, she said, the investigation focused on her and her vehicle. A warrant for her arrest was issued on April 17, 2026.
Verified quote:I could not understand what was happening. I was placed in solitary confinement for approximately three and a half days. Correctional officers told me I had to stay there because of the severity of my charges, and I could not be housed with other inmates until I had been evaluated.
Isaacs said she was eventually moved to a maximum-security housing unit, where she remained for approximately 10 days. She said her mugshot aired on television news while she was incarcerated and that other inmates harassed her about her charges.
Verified quote:without the collision damage investigators had claimed was present. This prompted the state to reevaluate my vehicle and the case against me. The following day, April 29th, I was finally granted bond. After 13 days in jail, I ran into my mother and father's arms.
The state ultimately declined to prosecute her in May 2026, she testified, and charges were filed against another individual instead.
Verified quote:That piece of information became part of an investigation that ultimately led to my arrest on three counts of vehicular homicide and 13 days in jail for a crash I had nothing to do with. I'm not here to tell you how to do your jobs. I'm here to tell you what happened to me.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., the subcommittee's ranking member, acknowledged the technology had legitimate law-enforcement uses before citing Isaacs's case as a cautionary example.
Verified quote:This has been around for a long time. It's been used to locate people who have gone missing, cars connected to crimes, and stolen vehicles. That all sounds good. And then you hear the story of Ms. Isaacs. She'll tell you in detail what she's been through when the so-called fail-safe technology fails. And it certainly did in her case.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., the subcommittee chairman, used his opening remarks to question the scope of the surveillance network, arguing that Americans' constitutional rights were at stake.
Verified quote:agree and assent and accept the fact that you're going to be on camera morning, noon, and night. You'll be tracked by anybody and everybody in the world. You'll have no privacy whatsoever. You'll be tracked when you take your kids to school and tracked when you go to church and tracked when you go to the grocery store. My gosh, that isn't the free society that we've known.
Durbin echoed the call for action, saying Congress must find a balance between privacy and security.
Verified quote:We have got to find a way to balance in America privacy and security. I think there is a balance. Congress needs to lead the way.