# 2026-02 Sherwood ALPR Misread Stop A Flock misread of an obscured final plate character generated a valid stolen return for the wrong plate. Sherwood officers conducted an armed stop and handcuffed both adult occupants before inspecting the physical plate and recognizing the mismatch; a small child was also in the vehicle. Officers then released the occupants ([[Sherwood Incident and CAD Records]], incident report p. 4; [[Sherwood Body-Camera and Dispatch Media]], approximately 17:28–17:35). ## Significance The event demonstrates the difference between confirming the database status of the OCR result and independently verifying that the OCR result matches the stopped vehicle. It is also cited in a written public comment in ARDOT's 2026 LPR rulemaking (`LPR_Comments_Spreadsheet.xlsx`, row concerning the Sherwood incident). The incident is evidence of one consequential OCR-and-verification failure, not a fleet-wide false-positive rate. [[ALPR Error Layers and Outcome Measurement]] separates that record from the distinct hot-list, outcome-tracking, and mixed-vendor issues in other audits. Sherwood's ALPR-specific policy did not take effect until March 24, 2026. The successor policy now says, “The officer must visually verify the license plate” and that an ALPR hit cannot be the sole basis for a stop without verification ([[Sherwood ALPR Policy 11.08.00]], p. 3). PD-2026-520 did not produce the incident-specific alert or activity records; items 1 and 2 remained unanswered at closure ([[PD-2026-520 Request Coverage and Custodian Statements]]).