- Chrisanna Elser was wrongly accused of stealing a package based on Flock Safety’s automated plate-reader camera footage, which she had to disprove with her own evidence.
Chrisanna Elser got a summons from Columbine Valley police accusing her of stealing a package. The evidence? A license-plate-reader camera that placed her truck near the scene. The problem? She wasn’t there. According to Denverite, Elser had to dig up her own timestamped truck video and a neighbor’s doorbell camera footage to prove it. Nobody verified the camera’s implication before the summons landed. The camera spoke, and the system listened — no further questions asked.
When the Camera Becomes the Case File
Flock Safety’s automated plate-reader network is now a primary evidence source for local police departments nationwide — and the Elser case shows exactly what that costs when the data points the wrong direction.
Flock Safety operates a network of ALPR (automated license-plate reader) cameras that capture point-in-time images of plates on public roads. Police departments across the country use them. Columbine Valley police issued Elser a summons based solely on that Flock footage, per CBS News Colorado. Then the evidentiary work fell entirely to her:
- Elser gathered her own evidence: timestamped video from her truck and a neighbor’s doorbell camera, as reported by Denverite.
- That evidence showed she was not at the scene during the alleged theft.
- Police voided the summons after reviewing the materials she provided.
CBS News Colorado framed the broader shift this way: policing has moved from fighting crime to citizens “proving where you are and what you’re doing.”
Flock Safety maintains its cameras are not mass-surveillance tools. The company says images are deleted at regular intervals unless accessed for a specific investigation, and courts have generally found no reasonable expectation of privacy on public roads. That’s their stated position — reasonable on its face…