Flock trained police to aim license-plate cameras and drones at protests
A leaked Flock Safety webinar shows the company coaching police on using FlockOS to monitor "No Kings" protests alongside routine events, tying license-plate readers, drones and gunshot detectors into one real-time view used in more than 4,800 US cities. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has separately logged more than 50 cases of agencies searching Flock's data for protest-related activity.
Artificial Intelligence··Evening
The webinar treats protests like routine events
In a webinar called Prepared for Anything, How Cities Prepare for Planned and Unplanned Events, Flock's director of market management, Caity Peak, walked law enforcement officials through using FlockOS Real-Time Crime Centers to monitor everything from small parades and fireworks displays to unexpected protests. She built a hypothetical around a No Kings protest staged in Denver, describing an incident commander who reviews a response plan while watching live video footage of the event unfold. Presenters also included Matt Patin, a former New Orleans police officer now working for Flock, and Ross Bourgeois, who directs that city's real-time crime centre.[1], [2]
FlockOS ties cameras, drones and people lookup into one platform
FlockOS combines automatic licence plate readers, drones, gunshot detectors and surveillance cameras into a single AI-powered video search platform, now running in more than 4,800 US cities. A companion tool called Flock Nova lets officers cross-reference plates against agency databases holding addresses, emails and social media accounts. One presenter said they want as many tools as possible on hand in order to be dangerous when the need arises, summing up the pitch behind bundling the separate systems together.[1]
An independent tally corroborates the pattern in protest-data searches
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, working independently of the webinar recording, found more than 50 instances of law enforcement agencies, including police and border patrol, using Flock's data servers to search for activity tied to No Kings protests in June and October and to specific activist groups. Flock's own Denver walkthrough shows how directly the company's training points its products at exactly this kind of gathering rather than only at ordinary traffic or crime work.[1], [2]
