Flock Safety CEO Apologizes as Counties Cut LPR Tech

Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley apologized Thursday for the misuse of the company's license plate reader (LPR) technology by law enforcement agencies. Langley announced new company-wide policies to prevent abuse, including a feature to flag potential misuse, automatic suspension of suspected abusers, and restrictions on suspicious database searches. He further recommended that agencies reduce camera data storage from 30 days to seven.

These measures follow revelations that the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office had been storing LPR data for 90 days. Sheriff Ed McMahon announced Monday that his office would reduce its retention period to 30 days and implement monthly internal audits to ensure accountability.

Simultaneously, some jurisdictions are abandoning the technology. The Sherburne County Sheriff's Office discontinued its service agreement with Flock Safety and disabled its camera search capabilities. Commander Ben Zawacki stated the agency declined to use taxpayer funds for a new contract following a pilot project, citing a growing backlash over how other agencies use collected data. In Todd County, Sheriff Mike Allen reported that unknown individuals destroyed all four Flock cameras in his jurisdiction, leaving the agency to decide whether to replace the equipment.