Denver woman sues police, Flock Safety after being falsely accused

A Denver woman, Chrisanna Elser, is suing Columbine Valley police, the towns of Bow Mar and Columbine Valley, Sgt. Jamie Milliman and surveillance firm Flock Safety after being wrongly cited for stealing a $25 package. Officers relied on license-plate data from six Flock cameras in neighboring Bow Mar to link her forest green Rivian to the scene, but Milliman refused to show Elser the footage when she asked. Elser produced time-stamped evidence from her truck’s onboard cameras, her phone and a tailor’s security camera proving she was over a quarter-mile away getting fitted for a gown. Columbine Valley’s chief later voided the summons; the federal complaint seeks class-action status and alleges Milliman’s warrantless use of Flock’s tracking violated Elser’s constitutional rights. Plaintiffs also note Milliman had been fired by another agency in 2013 for poor investigative practices.

The lawsuit frames Flock’s automated license-plate surveillance as a pervasive, unregulated system that records residents’ movements and hands that data to police without probable cause or oversight. Flock defends the technology as an investigative tool and plans to contest the suit. The case comes amid growing backlash: multiple Colorado counties and towns have canceled or suspended Flock contracts after misidentifications led to dangerous police stops and repeated false alerts, prompting debate over privacy, data-sharing and limits on mass surveillance.