Local Governments Retreat from Flock Surveillance
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A growing number of U.S. cities are terminating contracts with Flock Safety amid privacy concerns and reports of system misuse.
As TechCrunch first reported, at least 10 police departments and local governments have taken steps since this summer to limit or terminate their use of Flock Safety technology. The company, founded in 2017, provides surveillance tools including drones, microphone-based edge-computing devices, and license plate readers, with over 100,000 cameras currently deployed nationwide.
Cities moving to end their contracts include Lansing, Michigan; Richmond, Virginia; New Bedford and Hopkinton, Massachusetts; Newburgh, New York; Monroe, Ohio; and Asheville, North Carolina. Additionally, police in Grafton and East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, announced plans to stop using the technology. Residents of League City, Texas, recently voted against continued use, and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado announced its exit in September. In a press release, Sheriff Joseph Roybal stated the county has the experience to apprehend criminals without relying on Flock.
TechCrunch reports that the backlash stems from concerns over mass surveillance, data privacy, and procurement. In Ithaca, New York, a March resolution to terminate the contract cited instances where federal agents used Flock infrastructure without local authorization, specifically alleging that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) used query results from the database to investigate immigrants.
Misuse by personnel has also surfaced. TechCrunch notes an officer in Brentwood, Missouri, was accused of using the cameras to stalk an ex-wife in August, and an officer from East Texas was sentenced to prison in September for stalking an ex-girlfriend and her family.
Flock told TechCrunch that removing the tool "moves public safety backward" and asserted that it does not sell data or hold a contract with ICE. To address concerns, Flock announced in August that it would reduce the default data storage period for new customers from 30 days to seven and now requires a case code for database searches.