Flock CEO: We Have Not 'Fired' Any Police Department as a Client

Garrett Langley, CEO of Flock, said the surveillance company has not canceled contracts with any police department or law enforcement agency despite reports of misuse.

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Flock CEO Gareth Langley said his company has not terminated any contracts with customers due to misuse of its products.

Speaking with TechCrunch editor Connie Loizos at the Disrupt 2026 conference in San Francisco, Langley addressed the criticism the company has faced over police department misuse of its license plate cameras. It comes after reports that dozens of police officers have been identified, fired or told to resign for abusing access to a nationwide license plate recognition database, often to chase people without warrants.

Langley told Loizos that the company will end a relationship with a customer where there is widespread abuse of its systems. But, the company's CEO said, to date he hasn't "fired" a customer, as he calls it, such as a police department or law enforcement agency. Flock had that discussion internally, Langley said, but argued that the company shouldn't take its product away from a community that might need it in its crime-fighting efforts.

"If a customer knowingly breaks the law, we immediately fire them. It's that easy," Langley said.

"Most of the discussion is, 'What if two out of every fifty officers are arrested?' "Today, we haven't fired any customers, but that's not on the table," Langley added.

The misuse of Flock's systems and the data it collects is the latest in a series of controversies involving the Atlanta, Georgia-based license plate camera maker. Flock has more than 100,000 cameras across the United States that allow local police departments and federal agencies to track the location of license plates on cars and people as they pass.

By allowing law enforcement customers to track license plates of vehicles outside their jurisdiction, some police departments can track vehicles nationwide through Flock's national central database.

Flock has become a turning point in the surveillance debate, prompting cities, towns and communities to reject the company's cameras by canceling their contracts or letting them expire over privacy fears.

There have been several reports of Flock cameras being reactivated against their customers' wishes, prompting local residents to stick garbage bags over the cameras and otherwise destroy them.

As Langley spoke on the Disrupt Stage, demonstrators gathered outside to protest Flock's AI-based surveillance, wearing costumes like the red dresses from "Handmaid's Tale" and wearing cardboard models of Flock's cameras, while clips from the movie "1984" played loudly behind them. Others carried signs that read "Flock off" or "Flock = ICE."

Flock does not have a direct contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but the agency has reportedly accessed Flock data in the past by working with local police departments that use Flock cameras.

Ashley Ortiz, an organizer with local progressive activist group The Wolves, told TechCrunch that she wants local lawmakers to take voters' concerns about Flock more seriously.

"I think Flock is going to be the start of a lot more community building because we can come together around something as much as not enjoying mass surveillance," Ortiz said. "We have Republicans joining us, conservatives who agree, we have independent citizens shutting down the Flock cameras, so it's not just the left who doesn't want AI-based mass surveillance."

When asked what questions he has for Langley, Ortiz said, "What should make us feel safe about AI-based mass surveillance?"

In response, Langley argued on stage that its license plate tracking system would allow police departments to solve more crimes and solve them faster. He said he presented anecdotes such as a stolen car with a baby in the back seat that was quickly found thanks to Flock's systems.

However, Flock has also faced criticism for cybersecurity issues and camera accuracy issues that have led to dozens of police stops and illegal arrests, including of a journalist who was driving a patrol car.

Some communities have replaced their Flock contracts with competing surveillance companies, such as Axon, the maker of Taser weapons and police bodycams.

As for a possible sale to Axon, Langley said the company is not for sale. "No, we have no desire to sell the company."

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Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. He has also written for publications such as Polygon, MTV, Kenyon Review, NPR, and Business Insider. She is the co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Before joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. He holds a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Princeton Fellow in Asia in Laos.

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