Example: reading a public ALPR search-audit release
Direct answer: This page walks through a real, publicly linked FOIA release that contributed search-audit rows to the public corpus — so you can see provenance, typical fields, and hard limits. It is not a paid personal report and not a story about a named private person.
1. Original government / FOIA source
Upstream corpus metadata lists a Merced County (California) ALPR audit release via MuckRock:
- Agency (owner in metadata): Merced County Sheriff's Department (CA)
- Public request page: MuckRock FOIA #181228
- Approximate file window in corpus metadata: 2024-09-01 → 2024-09-30 (~1,009 rows attributed to that source file)
- Corpus family: public FOIA search-audit compilation documented at flockwatch.ryehowardstone.com (CC BY 4.0)
2. What kind of records these usually are
Released “organization / network audit” style exports typically describe operator search events inside an ALPR network — who searched, when, against whose cameras, and free-text reason fields — not a continuous GPS track of every car.
| Common field | What it usually means | What it does not mean by itself |
|---|---|---|
| searched_at | When a search/audit event was logged | That your car physically passed a camera at that second |
| agency | Agency account that ran the search | That the search was unlawful |
| owner | Agency whose cameras were queried | A complete inventory of all cameras statewide |
| reason / reason_norm | Operator-entered free text (often messy) | A verified legal category |
| plate (when returned) | Only when the caller already supplied that plate to a plate-keyed API | A browsable public dump of all plates |
3. How Flock Watch uses this class of data
- You submit a plate on Check My Plate.
- We query the live plate-keyed corpus API (exact match).
- Free preview shows match / no-match / source-unavailable — not full evidence rows.
- Optional paid report expands sourced rows + limits; $19.99 adds action templates.
Coverage snapshot stats and limits: Data sources.
4. What conclusions this example supports
- ✅ Some California agencies have released ALPR-related audit materials through public-records processes.
- ✅ Those releases can be linked from public FOIA portals (here: MuckRock).
- ✅ Corpus metadata can connect a source file to an agency, state, and date window.
5. What this example cannot support
- ❌ That Merced County (or any agency) searched your plate.
- ❌ That the published file is the agency’s complete historical audit database.
- ❌ Live location or a multi-city travel history.
- ❌ Proof of misconduct from a reason field alone.
6. How to request more from the agency
Ask for existing electronic records (search-audit logs, access logs, policies, contracts, sharing agreements) under the California Public Records Act — not a custom analysis report. Tools:
Draft a records request California ALPR / records context Run free plate preview
7. How to reproduce / verify
- Open the MuckRock FOIA URL above and review what was released.
- Read upstream corpus documentation and attribution requirements.
- On Flock Watch, compare messaging on data sources and audit logs explained.
- Do not treat DEMO sample pages as this case study.
Last verified: 2026-10-19. Educational resource — not legal advice. Independent of Flock Safety.