A Flock Camera Outranked a Richmond Mom’s Word and She Is Still Paying for It

Flock's chief executive was a no-show when Josh Hawley called him before a Senate panel.

Two months earlier, the company's cameras sent Richmond police to a Sussex Street home before two in the morning.

The mom who lived there swore they had the wrong car, and the machine won the argument.

Officers Told Rosalyn Crump Her Car Was in Gilpin Court

It was July 29 when Richmond Police Department officers showed up looking for Rosalyn Crump's 2012 Hyundai Elantra.

Flock camera data had them believing the car was tied to a crime.

Body camera video catches officers sweeping flashlights across the car, with one of them openly unsure they had the right vehicle.

Crump came outside and told them they had the wrong one.

She said nobody had driven it and she had been at her mother's house all day, and she had waited for her kids' bus at five.

An officer insisted her car had definitely been in Gilpin Court that day.

Her story didn't match the Flock data, the officer said, and that settled it.

One officer can be heard saying, "She's definitely not telling the truth."

Another floated the theory that the whole thing might have been a setup.

Minutes later, Seibert's Towing hauled her car away in the dark.

Police Found Their Real Suspect Four Hours After the Tow

Four hours after the tow truck pulled away, police had their actual suspect and released the Elantra.

Nobody told her for days.

By then, the damage was done.

The tow wrecked her car, and a second inspection declared it a total loss.

A Seibert's vice president put it in writing that the company would make it right.

Then the claim landed with Seibert's insurer, and the company said its hands were tied on settling with her.

Without a car, Crump, a mother of three boys, has been late to work, has lost pay and now has her job on the line.

She's paying for a rental car out of pocket, and a GoFundMe has been set up to help cover her transportation costs.

12 On Your Side reports that police now admit Flock cameras led them to the wrong vehicle.

https://twitter.com/RyanAFournier/status/2112888527553774066

Richmond City Hall Dropped Flock Without a Word About Rosalyn Crump

Mayor Danny Avula's city bought into the Flock network and put those cameras on Richmond streets.

In September, Avula said he would reevaluate the contract because more residents were raising questions.

Police Chief Rick Edwards said he and the mayor were discussing how to address "legitimate privacy concerns."

In October, Avula announced Richmond won't renew the contract.

His explanation was about regional crime-fighting and Henrico County dropping the system: "Crime doesn't stop and start at the city and county line."

Neither man's public explanation mentioned the mom whose car got hauled off and destroyed.

Josh Hawley and Thomas Massie Are Done Waiting On Flock

Republicans in Washington have stopped giving this network the benefit of the doubt.

Hawley opened an investigation into Flock in August and demanded documents on what the company does with the driver data it gathers and who gets to see it.

His message to CEO Garrett Langley: "Congress never authorized the network your industry has built."

Hawley pointed to a Florida woman who sat in jail for 13 days for a crime she didn't commit.

That woman, Lindsey Isaacs, later told Hawley's panel she was arrested after a Flock camera caught her vehicle about three miles from a fatal crash.

He also cited a Milwaukee officer accused of running a former partner's plate 124 times.

Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie and Missouri Republican Eric Burlison introduced the Flock-Off Act to cut off federal money for license plate readers.

Massie said the cameras have "turned their communities into a version of 1984."

In August, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott cut off state agency spending on the cameras.

Days later, Florida's Department of Transportation yanked the permits for the cameras on state highways and gave them 30 days to come down.

Since January 2025, 201 towns and counties have walked away from license plate reader contracts, by the Institute for Justice's count.

A Camera Network Congress Never Approved Took a Working Mom's Car

The officers on Sussex Street had a citizen with an alibi standing in front of them and a database calling her a liar.

They went with the database.

That's what happens when a city buys a surveillance network and teaches its people to treat every alert like gospel.

Hawley is right that Congress never signed off on any of this, and neither did the Richmond drivers whose plates it logged.

The Fourth Amendment was written so Americans wouldn't have to prove their innocence to the government outside their homes at two in the morning.

Richmond is ditching the cameras, but dropping a contract is not the same as making a mother of three whole.

Until City Hall cuts that check, every family in Richmond is one bad camera hit away from the same 2 a.m. knock.

Sources:

• Franklin White, "Richmond woman says Flock cameras led police to tow wrong car," 12 On Your Side, October 19, 2026.
• Maggie Glass, "Mayor Avula explains why he's reevaluating Richmond's Flock camera contract," 12 On Your Side, September 21, 2026.
• 12 On Your Side Digital Team, "Richmond not renewing contract with Flock, Mayor Avula says," 12 On Your Side, October 10, 2026.
• Nicole Silverio, "Josh Hawley Launches Investigation Into Flock Over Surveillance Concerns," The Daily Caller, August 26, 2026.
• KWQC, "Senators raise Fourth Amendment concerns over nationwide Flock camera surveillance network," KWQC, September 27, 2026.
• Dylan Kresak, "America Is Slamming The Brakes On The Camera Network Tracking Your Every Move," The Daily Caller, September 12, 2026.