This is a materially different proposition from the automatic number plate recognition network it sits on, and is recorded separately for that reason. Formerly called Nightshift, it combines vehicle movement data from Flock cameras with police databases and commercial identity information, and allows investigators to search in natural language.

The change is in what question can be asked. Conventional plate recognition answers where a specific vehicle has been. This allows searches that begin without a known registration number or a known individual, identifying vehicles exhibiting a pattern and then moving from those vehicles to potential individuals, associates and suspects. The system can infer relationships and generate investigative leads.

That shift, from looking up a known vehicle to pattern-searching an entire network for unknown people, creates a substantially different privacy and civil liberties profile from the underlying camera network, and one that existing rules written for plate readers may not obviously cover.

Evidence status matters here and is stated deliberately. The existence and capabilities of the product are established through investigative reporting. What is not established is any named police department operationally using it: that would need a contract, procurement document or agency disclosure. No tracker entry has therefore been created for this technology, and none should be until such a document exists.