Flock Group Inc., doing business as Flock Safety, is a private technology and surveillance company that provides automated license plate readers (ALPRs), video cameras, and data-sharing software to governments, law enforcement agencies, private properties and other organizations.

Their main product is a searchable database that creates detailed profiles of vehicles based on a wide range of characteristics and tracks vehicle movements rather than just recording passive, unindexed video. 

Flock Group Inc.  uses artificial intelligence across its surveillance network to capture, analyze, and search surveillance data.

Flock Group Inc. tracks about 1 million unique license plates for the Raleigh Police Department each month. (source)

Flock Group Inc. has a growing network of 120,000 cameras installed almost everywhere--in both urban and rural areas on highways, in neighborhoods, and outside your local hospital or hardware store. Less than 1% of individuals and cars scanned by ALPRs are connected in any way to any crime or wrongdoing. (Source) Approximately 1 in 10 license plates scanned by Flock Group Inc. cameras misread the state. (Source)

Flock Safety uses artificial intelligence across its surveillance network to capture, analyze, and search surveillance data.

The system uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert image data into alphanumeric characters and computer readable data.

A product feature, called Flock FreeForm, allows law enforcement to search video and license plate data using natural-language text descriptions (such as vehicle damage or clothing color) instead of rigid filters.  Their website says, "FreeForm combines powerful AI, cross-agency access and real-time alerts into one intuitive experience." (source) 

Flock Safety uses AI prompts and data tools to connect vehicle movement patterns, trace vehicle associations, surface potential witnesses, and cross-reference case files or dispatch logs. Their stated goal is to "Connect Every Device, System, and Agency to Analyze real-time data, link events, highlight movement and surface priority information across jurisdictions." (source) 

Flock Safety's "Guardian Mode" automatically detects, zooms in on, and captures high-resolution images of people and vehicles, providing around-the-clock investigative evidence. (1)

ALPRs are computer-controlled camera systems that automatically captures images of vehicles and vehicle license license plates and converts that digital image into searchable attributes and digital text. Along with the plate number, the system records the exact date, time, and location (geocoordinates) of the vehicle. ALPRs are connected to networks of law enforcement databases.

These cameras capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles without consent, storing details like your car's location, date, and time. They also capture your car's make, model, color, and identifying features such as dents, roof racks, and bumper stickers. The system turns these attributes into searchable data points.

This technology has several common use-cases, such as toll collection and parking management; however, it is when ALPR data is combined with powerful artificial intelligence tools, made available to thousands of unknown persons and shared widely across networks that privacy concerns become the potential for abuse become concerning.

These cameras can track anyone and collect data on millions of vehicles regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime. 

Yes, Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras have faced documented incidents of misuse and growing public backlash in North Carolina.  A Mooresville police officer was arrested, prompting an internal investigation into the personal misuse of the department's Flock camera system. Officials confirmed multiple policy violations and overhauled their security safeguards. (source)

30 days (source). This three weeks longer than the updated default setting implemented in August of 2026 by Flock Safety.

Some data may be kept longer than 30 days. For example, search results and data related to active investigations can be retained for longer periods of time or indefinitely.

Yes, the RPD shares data with Government Agencies within North Carolina along with those in adjoining states: Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia as well as South Carolina. (source)

Thousands of people have access to Raleigh's ALPR data and the Raleigh Police Department has no way of knowing who all of these individuals are, whether they actually have legitimate law enforcement purposes for using the system or how the data is used.

Police Chief Boyce has stated that the Raleigh Police Department does "not share any data with ICE." (source)

While it may be correct the RPD does not DIRECTLY share data with ICE, Chief Boyce cannot say with certainty that data is not shared INDIRECTLY with ICE. Because the RPD shares data with other agencies and adjoining states, and because once data sharing features do not allow search gating, there's nothing to prevent agencies in neighboring states to access data from Raleigh and then share it with ICE.

For example, the RPD shares data with agencies in Tennessee. Agencies in Tennessee have used Flock Safety to aid immigration enforcement in Tennessee and provided tracking data to ICE (source). Therefore, data from the RPD Flock network may have been provided to ICE indirectly.  

In fact, reporters have found that individual police officers have conducted searches of the Flock system on behalf of federal immigration enforcement officials. Because many local police departments share their data in Flock’s nationwide network, they were effectively able to search cameras across the country on behalf of ICE. (source)

Raleigh Councilwoman Patton asked Police Chief Boyce about this directly. (source) Police Chief Boyce did not answer this question directly. Instead, he simply stated that "there has to be a criminal connection for an entry into Flock." Chief Boyce did not assure our Council that the system would not be used to assist ICE through an another agency that viewed immigration enforcement as a law enforcement or criminal matter.