Flock Highlighted Police Departments Using Its Tech. Now 4 Face Allegations of Misuse

The Albany Police Department did not respond to WIRED’s petition for comment.

Flock’s Savannah video centers connected an interrogation with past large of constabulary Robert Gavin, who praised however Flock facilitates data-sharing betwixt antithetic instrumentality enforcement agencies.

“We spent a batch of clip doing assemblage talks astir what we're gonna usage them for, what we're not gonna usage them for,” Gavin says, adding that the wide nonsubjective is to “keep everybody safe.”

On July 31, Savannah constabulary politician Van Johnson wrote successful a Facebook station that the allegations involving the six employees had been referred to the GBI to find whether transgression charges should beryllium filed.

The Savannah Police Department did not respond for comment. The GBI confirmed that it investigated the incidents successful Savannah and Albany, but didn’t supply information, noting that the Savannah probe is “still active.”

According to Johnson, the Savannah Police Department conducted an interior probe done the Flock Safety Audit Assistance Program, which Flock introduced successful April. In a property merchandise announcing the tool, Flock said it “continuously monitors strategy enactment and surfaces hunt patterns that autumn extracurricular an agency’s emblematic usage.” Savannah constabulary main Lenny Gunther told a section quality outlet that the probe surfaced 127 inappropriate searches retired of the 39,000 it conducted this year.

“Public spot is non-negotiable,” Johnson said successful his Facebook statement. “These tools beryllium to support our assemblage safe, not for idiosyncratic oregon unauthorized use.”

In 2020, Flock posted a video by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution astir the Sandy Springs Police Department’s apprehension of a structure pirate. The video did not diagnostic immoderate interviews with Sandy Springs Police Department personnel, but noted that the antheral was arrested aft a Flock camera captured the licence sheet of the suspect.

About 5 years later, the Sandy Springs Police Department launched an interior probe into whether 1 of its officers had misused Flock’s technology. According to investigators, the serviceman allegedly ran ALPR searches to enactment beta investigating for Signal 8, a instrumentality enforcement bundle institution that employed the serviceman successful a 2nd job.

This officer, the constabulary section claimed, did not cooperate with its probe and was subsequently terminated.

Meanwhile, Flock showcased the Baytown Police Department successful 2025 arsenic portion of a little bid highlighting cases wherever constabulary said Flock was instrumental successful apprehending a suspect.

“We usage it aggregate times each day, and erstwhile I log successful to my computer, Flock is the archetypal happening I click on,” a Baytown constabulary serviceman says.

On July 30, Baytown constabulary main John Stringer announced the resignation of a constabulary serviceman who had been nether probe for allegedly misusing Flock’s technology. The Baytown Police Department did not respond to WIRED’s petition for comment.

In his video statement, Stringer said that 2 investigations into the officer’s alleged misuse—one internal, 1 criminal—remained ongoing.

“Accountability to the fullest grade of the instrumentality volition beryllium pursued,” Stringer added.