A Complete Guide to Flock Safety Cameras

If you live in America, chances are you’ve driven past a Flock camera at some point over the past few years.

Flock has become nearly ubiquitous thanks to its use by law enforcement, HOAs, and private property owners, with a footprint in over 5,000 communities across 49 states. 

Flock’s technology and hardware, including automated license plate recognition and gunfire locator systems, mostly flew under the radar since its inception in 2017.

But in recent years, the company has seen increasing scrutiny, criticism, and litigation from private citizens, local governments, and civil liberties groups over concerns regarding their potential invasion of privacy and misuse. 

What are Flock cameras, and should you be concerned about their use in your community?

Flock cameras are automatic license plate readers (ALPR). (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

What are Flock Cameras?

Flock Safety, the company that builds and operates these cameras, says that they seek to deter crime, respond to emergencies, and investigate safety incidents. Its main products are automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, though they also offer traditional security cameras, mobile security trailers, drones, and security software. 

ALPRs capture identifying details of passing cars, including the license plate, make, model, color, and other visible characteristics. The cameras—which are located on public roads, in parking lots, and in front of private homes—use AI technology to analyze what it captures and upload that data to the company’s national surveillance platform. They do not use facial recognition technology, though images of pedestrians or bicyclists may be captured in the recordings. 

Flock is most notably used by law enforcement agencies, but the cameras are also heavily marketed to HOAs, schools, and retail businesses, which can then share their camera data to local police. This helps the company create an expansive surveillance network, with the stated goal of aiding criminal investigations. Flock says it captures billions of “plate reads” every month.

Flock cameras aren’t the same as traffic enforcement cameras, radar guns, toll cameras, or other tools that would issue red-light or speeding tickets. They are used to track vehicle movement and identify suspects. 

What do Flock cameras do?

Flock cameras operate differently than traditional security cameras. 

ALPRs take six to 12 still images per session, which will capture the rear of passing vehicles at speeds up to 100 miles an hour and distances up to 75 feet while maintaining clarity. 

Flock’s software can identify all visual characteristics of the vehicles it captures, including license plate, make, model, color, and even unique features such as bumper stickers, roof racks, dents, or scratches. This information is turned into data which is shared with Flock’s national database. 

What Flock captures is typically used in two ways. One is hotlist integration: The cameras are able to immediately compare the plates against state police watchlists as the FBI’s National Crime Information Center. If a wanted vehicle is identified, Flock alerts local police. 

Police can also search Flock’s database using a natural language search tool called FreeForm to look for specific vehicle profiles. 

Flock surveillance cameras are popping up more and more, both on streets and neighborhoods, and in places like college campuses. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Where are Flock Cameras located?

Many public places in American life are now watched over by Flock cameras. They are placed at the entrances and exits of neighborhoods, at city limits, and at strategic high-traffic intersections. 

Flock itself does not publish a single comprehensive map of its camera locations. If you are interested in determining the use of Flock cameras in your area; however, there are tools available. 

Some police departments seek to be transparent about their use of Flock technology, and will maintain a public dashboard or portal showing aggregated use data, such as total camera count, search metrics, and a list of other agencies that are permitted to use or search their network. 

There are also third-party databases and platforms that give users visibility into the use of Flock cameras. The Atlas of Surveillance, run by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is a searchable database showing what police technology is in use in certain communities, including Flock cameras. DeFlock and Have I Been Flocked feature crowdsourced maps and databases where people can share camera locations and other information, such as the camera operator. 

Are Flock Cameras legal?

Yes, Flock cameras and other ALPRs—such as Genetec, PlateSmart, Axon, and Vigilant Solutions—are currently legal in most jurisdictions, operating under the legal premise that there is no expectation of privacy on public roads and in public spaces. 

This technology and its usage are fairly new, however, and very few states have laws that would regulate the data collected, stored, saved, and shared by Flock and similar companies. 

“The law has not kept pace with just how inexpensive, intrusive, powerful and widespread this technology is becoming,” says Jamie E. Wright, a California-based attorney. 

There's also growing scrutiny over who ends up with access to Flock data. It's often unclear who within an HOA or business actually has access to the footage—and HOA boards don't always disclose the specifics of a Flock rollout, including whether they've also opted into Flock's larger law enforcement search network. Governments face a similar transparency problem: a June 2026 compliance audit found a regional intelligence center had queried San Francisco's Flock network on behalf of outside and federal agencies roughly 300 times in a year, despite local policy restricting that access.

As a result, there are concerns regarding privacy and other civil liberties. The American Civil Liberties Union contends that “a nationwide video surveillance network is contrary to the guarantees of the Constitution,” and that Flock’s technology and database can essentially create records of people’s private lives, such as the doctors they visit or where they worship. There have been notable cases where Flock’s technology was misused, including when Kansas police used them to pursue a man who had written a critical op-ed about the department, or when a Bedford, MA, police officer used Flock to stalk an ex-girlfriend. 

Flock’s default data retention policies have also been heavily scrutinized. While Flock recently lowered its standard retention to one week, local governments can request to store the data for much longer.

Pushback from organizations like the ACLU and the EFF, as well as from private citizens, has led to some city councils and even states like Rhode Island actively pausing, banning, or canceling their Flock contracts. 

What do Flock Cameras look like?

How can you tell a Flock camera apart from other security cameras? 

Flock cameras are distinct: They are dark, rectangular or oval camera boxes, usually mounted on black metal poles, existing lampposts, or telephone poles. These cameras are also solar-powered—to keep them running without being wired to a local power grid—so they will often have a visible flat solar panel mounted above them. Most tellingly: Look for the small bird logo or a Flock label on the unit, if possible. 

Look for Flock cameras at intersections, in parking lots, or at the entrances to communities. 

Flock cameras have become a fixture on American roads and highways, and as their use evolves, so will the conversation around how they're used, and who is using them.