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Flock repeatedly flags 76-year old Grandmother for arrest, erroring zero for "O"
(guessingheadlights.com)
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this post was submitted on 03 May 2026
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So why hasn't the police department corrected it? This lady should sue tf out of the PD.
A super simple fix is to just issue her a new license plate. A better fix is to have a license plate lettering schema that makes it impossible to have substitution errors - predictable numeric/alpha positions, skipping easily confused letters/numbers (0/O, 1/I, 2/Z, and I think a couple more), etc. An extra layer in either case is that before an arrest warrant or any judge order is written, there needs to be a proper second evaluation of the primary evidence - in this case, double-check the original photograph of the license plate.
Z and 0 should have lines through them anywhere that easy readability matters.
The simplest fix is to correct the db.
https://www.wired.com/story/null-license-plate-landed-one-hacker-ticket-hell/
It gets out sourced most likely. There is no money doing proper sync from a source of truth.
I wouldn't bet on Wired being a shining beacon of truth, unless it's to get truth - telling whistle blowers thrown in the brig.
Surprisingly, no... You can update the original record, but, you can't guarantee that any subsequent records/documents/warrants/etc., will be found and also changed. If you simply giver her a new license plate, that connection more or less goes away.
e: If I were this person, I'd have gone and reported my plates as damaged and got new ones right away..
Why can't SQL do it efficiently?
In the decades of experience I have with SQL, it is still unable to edit printed documents.
But also, it's not one database, it's thousands. Between missing/expired credentials, untested webhooks, changing data formats that the receiving end hasn't made the required updates for, and more... On top, some only get new records, not updates. Some are updated by hand even.
Hey thanks again. It's amazing how much difference a few hours' sleep can make. All sorts of obvious things I (not a programmer) didn't think of.
Thank you for explaining this. I'm obviously not technically inclined, so I really appreciate it, and will try to reread it tomorrow so it hopefully clicks for me.
No worries :)
♥️
in germ land (& like 50 other countries) we have a thing for that and it's beautiful