Flock Exposed - What Flock Says Is Coming
Flock Safety is not standing still.
The company that started by selling license plate cameras to neighborhoods has spent the last several years buying companies, raising money, and announcing products that go far beyond reading plates. This page collects what Flock itself has said publicly about where it is headed, alongside what outside reporting and independent researchers have documented. Every item below is sourced.
The Money Behind the Expansion
Flock Safety raised two hundred seventy-five million dollars (275,000,000) in new funding at a seven point five billion dollar (7,500,000,000) valuation.
Source: Flock Safety company announcement, "Flock Safety Raises $275M in New Funding at $7.5B Valuation"
In announcing that funding, CEO and founder Garrett Langley said the company had expanded its reach to over five thousand (5,000) communities across the United States, and that the money would let Flock accelerate its investment in building new technology.
Source: Flock Safety company announcement, statement by Garrett Langley
Flock describes itself as operating an integrated safety platform that already includes license plate readers, gunshot detection, AI-powered video cameras, and Drone as First Responder technology.
Source: Flock Safety company announcement
Drones: The Biggest Expansion
In October 2024, Flock acquired Aerodome, a manufacturer of drones for law enforcement, and announced plans to introduce its own line of drones.
Source: Wikipedia, Flock Safety entry
Flock announced that the Elk Grove, California police department received the first-ever FAA waiver allowing a Flock Aerodome Drone as First Responder system to fly unrestricted, without a human observer, up to four hundred (400) feet across its entire jurisdiction.
Source: Police1 and Commercial UAV News, reporting a Flock Safety announcement
The Electronic Frontier Foundation describes the new FAA waiver process and the rush of police departments to obtain them as a shift in law enforcement's use of drones, moving from human-operated aerial surveillance to AI-based autonomous drone use.
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation, "Hundreds of Drone-as-First-Responder Programs Could Soon Be Launched Across the Country"
Only nine hundred seventy-six (976) drone-as-first-responder waivers were granted in the seven (7) years from 2018 through April 2025. Between April 2025 and February 2026, the FAA issued more waivers than it had in the previous seven years combined.
Source: TechSpot and Techdirt, reporting Electronic Frontier Foundation findings
By February 2026, over one thousand (1,000) public safety agencies, including police and fire departments, had received the FAA waivers needed to automate drone operations and launch a drone-as-first-responder program.
Source: Cybernews and TechTimes
Fort Worth, Texas launched a citywide Flock drone-as-first-responder program.
Source: UAVHQ
Truthout framed the progression bluntly in a headline: "First Came the Flock Cameras. Now Local Cops Want Autonomous Drones."
Source: Truthout
TechTimes reported that autonomous police drones have reached one thousand (1,000) agencies with no federal privacy floor in sight.
Source: TechTimes
Microphones: Listening for More Than Gunshots
Flock's acoustic gunshot detection product, originally called Raven and later renamed Audio Detection, is a network of microphones designed to detect gunfire and other sounds such as glass breaking, and to automatically activate nearby cameras.
Source: GovTech, "Exclusive: Flock Safety Reveals Gunshot Sensors Tied to Cameras"
In October 2025, Flock announced that its Raven devices would begin listening for human distress, a feature the company called "Distress Detection."
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation, "Flock's Gunshot Detection Microphones Will Start Listening for Human Voices," and 48 Hills
The Record reported that the system was being advertised on Flock's website under a safety slogan, and that it would listen to human voices in addition to detecting gunshots.
Source: The Record from Recorded Future News
The Electronic Frontier Foundation warned that placing microphones all over cities to listen for human voices was likely to open up a whole new set of unforeseen legal, civil liberties, and even bodily safety problems.
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
After public pressure, Flock ended the rollout of audio "Distress Detection" of human voices. The Electronic Frontier Foundation reported this as a victory in July 2026.
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation, "Victory! Flock Ends Rollout of Audio 'Distress Detection' of Human Voices"
This matters: it is documented proof that public objection can stop a Flock product from being deployed.
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Nova: The Data Search Product
Flock's Nova product drew immediate criticism when it was announced, with GovTech reporting that Flock's newest police tool sparked a data controversy.
Source: GovTech, "Flock's Newest Police Tool Sparks Data Controversy"
Flock published a public statement titled "Flock Nova Will Not Supply Dark Web Data: The Facts," in which the company said the reporting on Nova used dubious sources, including rumors, early product discussions, and private internal company discussions.
Source: Flock Safety company blog
A Flock representative named Beilin said the critical report was published before the company had finalized Nova, and that 404 Media was inaccurate when it reported that Nova would use information gained from data breaches.
Source: GovTech, "Flock Safety Pushes Back on Data Breach Product Criticism"
However, an independent security analysis of Flock Nova's own code reported finding what the researcher described as a fully wired "Dark Data" search pipeline, with fields for Social Security numbers, credit cards, and crypto wallets, which appears to conflict with Flock's public statement.
Source: Independent security research published at nexanet.ai, "License Plate Reader Company Flock Said It Does Not Use Dark Web Data. My Analysis of Their Code Tells a Different Story"
A second organization summarized the same conflict: Flock publicly said Nova would not use hacked or dark-web data, while an independent review of the product's code reported a data source labeled "Dark Data" with fields for Social Security and credit card numbers.
Source: DeFlock ILM
What Flock Says About Its Own Future
Flock publishes a blog post titled "Flock Safety's Technology: Built to Stay Future-Proof," in which the company states that its future-proof design is not just about adding new bells and whistles, but about solving real problems in the field both now and tomorrow.
Source: Flock Safety company blog
In that same post, Flock names the capabilities agencies gain access to: real-time alerts, drone-as-a-first-responder integration, and seamless data-sharing across jurisdictions, all tied into a single platform.
Source: Flock Safety company blog
Flock's quarterly product update webinars advertise the direction plainly. One is titled "Q3 Public Safety Product Updates: Drones, Video and LPR," with the description "Multiply your force with drones, automated video monitoring, and new LPR filters."
Source: Flock Safety webinar listing
The Accountability Features Flock Announced Under Pressure
In August 2026, amid public backlash, Flock announced a set of platform changes, including new default data retention policies, administrator review processes, and vulnerability reporting mechanisms.
Source: ASIS International Security Management magazine, and BNN Bloomberg
Flock reduced its recommended default data retention from thirty (30) days to seven (7) days, gave customers more control over how data is shared across agencies, expanded audit requirements and proactive monitoring to detect misuse, and made changes to multi-factor authentication.
Source: Flock Safety company website
Flock said data may still be preserved for longer than the standard window when it is evidence tied to a case number.
Source: BNN Bloomberg and The Washington Times
Flock announced that its Audit Assistance feature will be required for all law enforcement customers by the end of 2026, and that it is implementing proactive lockout, which can automatically suspend access when activity meets defined criteria for abnormal behavior, pending administrator review.
Source: Flock Safety press center
The American Civil Liberties Union responded that until Flock demonstrates it can develop a reliable, workable system to prevent improper searches, the promise of local control provides nothing more than a false sense of security.
Source: American Civil Liberties Union, "Despite 'New' Updates, Flock's Creepy Cameras Remain Major Civil Liberties Threat"
The ACLU further noted that while providing Audit Assistance to all departments makes sense, there is no evidence the tool works consistently to address what The Washington Post observed is a growing pattern of police officers turning Flock into a personal stalking tool.
Source: American Civil Liberties Union
The Washington Post identified forty-six (46) cases where police officers have been accused of using Flock technology for unauthorized purposes, including to stalk their wives, girlfriends, or exes.
Source: TechCrunch, reporting The Washington Post findings
The Pattern Worth Noticing
Look at the sequence. A town approves license plate cameras. Then the same vendor offers microphones on those poles. Then drones that launch on their own. Then a search product that reaches into data far beyond license plates. Each step is sold as an addition to a system the town already owns, which makes each step easier to approve than the first one was.
Source: Progression documented across the Flock product announcements and acquisition reporting cited above
The accountability features described above are worth reading closely for what they are: recommendations and customer-configurable settings, not guarantees. A recommended retention period is not a required one.
Source: Flock Safety company website, which describes the retention change as a recommended default
Questions to Ask Your Town
Does our contract limit us to license plate cameras only, or can the vendor add microphones, drones, or new software products without a new vote?
If the vendor releases a new capability, does it turn on automatically for us, or does someone have to approve it first?
What is our actual data retention setting, in writing, and who is allowed to change it?
Has anyone at our department been briefed on drone-as-first-responder, and is there a proposal we have not seen?
Who in our town would find out if a new feature were switched on, and how?
This page will be updated as more factual sources become available.