In 2020, the cops department of stunning Covington, Georgia, paid Flock Safety, the monitoring innovation business, $40,000 to preserve 20 video cameras around the city. The next year, it paid the very same quantity.
In 2022, that expense increased to$81,250. Fifteen brand-new “Falcon”cams, which Flock states have more advanced innovation for checking out license plates, represented $37,500. Another $3,750 approached setting up the brand-new video cameras, and the rest was invested keeping the preliminary fleet.
In 2024, the department paid Flock $113,225. Of that, $87,500 was to preserve its existing 35 electronic cameras, a rate it consented to spend for the next 5 years, and the rest approached 8 brand-new Falcon cams. The next year, Covington paid Flock $159,000 for a mix of video camera upkeep and registration in its Drone as First Responder program, which utilizes drones to fly to emergency situation scenes and stream video footage back to the police headquarters.
It’s uncertain just how much Covington will end up paying Flock in 2026, however through August, it has actually paid $201,000–$100,000 to preserve its existing cams, $800 to change one, and another $100,200 for brand-new software. The Covington Police Department did not react to an ask for remark.
In general, Flock is a little portion of the Covington authorities department’s $12,488,733 spending plan for June 2025 to July 2026. In the middle of strong blowback about Flock’s security practices, agreements with the business are now being inspected in cities throughout the nation. Flock did not offer a remark for this story.
WIRED acquired files by means of public record demand from a lots Flock consumers throughout the nation and compared them to openly offered info from more than a lots others. The files clarified just how much Flock can really cost neighborhoods, the method much of those offers are structured, and how the offers can broaden over numerous years– leaving taxpayers on the hook every year, without any end in sight.
“Once you let law enforcement officers attempt a tool,” states Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy expert at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, “it ends up being truly tough to get the political will and inspiration to take that tool far from them.”
How Flock Gets in the Door
When Flock was established in 2017, it initially offered its license plate readers to personal property owner associations (HOAs). By the time the business chose to offer to authorities departments in 2019, it had an in: Rather than beginning a video camera network from scratch, authorities might begin by accessing the cams that HOAs were currently utilizing.
A variation of this story played out in Alpharetta, Georgia. In 2020, the city’s cops department paid Flock $17,680 for 5 Falcon electronic cameras and logins for Flock software application called Wing, which can draw out automobile and license plate information from off-brand cam video. The next year, when Alpharetta purchased a couple of more Flock electronic cameras, a payment reason kept in mind that “numerous” regional personal property owner associations had actually currently acquired Flock and gave them electronic camera gain access to.
“We are seeking to include more city video cameras into the Flock system,” the validation read. According to the city, “other suppliers” would “not incorporate with our existing Flock system.”
Over the next a number of years, Alpharetta broadened its deal with the business considerably. By 2025, the city’s yearly Flock costs had actually swollen to $381,000.
As in other markets, business that offer innovation to cops typically utilize monetary rewards to get consumers in the door. Clearview AIRingand Taser have all ponied up luring deals to companies around the nation.
“A great deal of these authorities security suppliers have actually discovered the lessons of basic old salesmanship,” Guariglia informs WIRED. To put it simply, offers and discount rates work.
Flock likewise broadens its agreements by providing discount rates if departments sign a multiyear agreement. In 2024, Alpharetta locked into a five-year agreement with Flock that would cost $254,250 the very first year and $238,000 for each succeeding year. The arrangement was $ 232,500 less than 5 1 year arrangements, which might be based on greater rates.
The Alpharetta Police Department decreased to comment.
Five-year contracts prevail amongst Flock consumers, which the business has actually in some cases marketed as a”price-lock promo. “In a November 2023 e-mail, Flock consumer success supervisor Gwen Saltal utilized this framing to use a five-year offer to New York’s Albany County Sheriff’s Office.
“As you might know, on April 1st, the expense of brand-new Falcons went from $2,500 to$ 3,000, which will make an application for future renewal terms on existing cams also,”Saltal composed. “If you wish to secure your existing electronic camera rates, Flock is using a 5-year agreement to hold that prices.”The Albany County Sheriff’s Office did not react to an ask for remark.
In other cities, Flock won long-lasting agreements due to the fact that it provided a hassle-free item package.(This is far from special to Flock; Motorola, for example, just recently tattooed a$54 million arrangement with Louisiana for a slate of policing innovation.)
Guillermo Mixer, the authorities chief of the main California city of Greenfield, reported in a January city board conference that the yearly expense of the city’s security system was$112,900, spread out throughout 5 agreements with 3 business: Flock, the monitoring video camera business Surveillance Grid, and the drone business Paladin.
Mixer proposed dumping Surveillance Grid and Paladin and rather locking into a five-year agreement with Flock. The yearly expense would be $136,940– about $24,000 more than its level of costs at the time. He kept in mind, nevertheless, that the cost consisted of 3 brand-new cams and access to Flock911, which transfers 911 call information to reacting officers, along with drones from Aerodrome, a business Flock got in 2024.
A proposed order type noted lots of other Flock services and products consisted of in the agreement, though it’s uncertain the number of those were brand-new additions.
In the end, Greenfield’s city board all authorized[ Mixer’s repackaged Flock agreement. Mixer and the Greenfield Police Department did not react to an ask for remark.
What Your Money Gets You
WIRED evaluated a July 2022″Public Sector Price Sheet”for Flock items for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department in Florida. It was created for one particular firm, it shows the approximate cost varieties WIRED observed in Flock purchase orders around that time from around the nation.
Historically, Flock has actually put companies into among 14 prices “pails “for its software application, depending upon their size. Agencies in “Bucket 1″have one to 15 sworn officers and might pay just $2,000 or as much as$ 115,500 for Flock software application, depending upon whether they get a fundamental bundle or choose several add-ons. The expenses by container incrementally increase till Bucket 14– which is for state and federal firms, or regional forces with more than 3,000 officers– which the sheet states gets”custom-made”rates.Hardware, on the other hand, tends to be cost flat yearly rates. According to the prices sheet, private license plate readers and security cams cost $3,000 to$5,200 annually, not consisting of the expense of preliminary setup– which can run in between$150 and $2,750 upfront.
The prices sheet puts Flock’s specific gunshot detectors at $8,500 to$35,000 every year, depending upon their variety. The expense for its private drones, on the other hand, is$50,000 to$ 150,000 each year, and Flock’s 2″ mobile security trailer” offerings cost$20,000 and$25,000 every year. Fort Lauderdale authorities did not react to an ask for remark.
Rates differ depending on the size of a purchase and private settlements with a city, Flock’s rates appears to be equivalent to its rivals. Axon just recently priced estimate Denver $150,000 to set up 50 video cameras throughout the city and preserve them for one year, while Motorola just recently charged Manti, Utah, $4,704 for a single license plate reader.
Flock likewise has a rates prepare for changing harmed or taken items– an especially pertinent issue in the middle of a nationwide wave of vandalism targeting Flock electronic cameras. Per Flock agreement conditions, the business keeps ownership of the items
it offers to cities. This indicates that when individuals damage or ruin video cameras, cities are on the hook for the expense. (It likewise implies that if a city chooses to end their Flock agreement, they need to provide the devices back)
According to Flock’s site and billings evaluated by WIRED, the business has flat rates for changing harmed or taken items:$800 for video cameras,$500 for poles, and$ 1,300 for both.(This is up from its 2021 rates, according to files from Anderson County, South Carolina, when its replacement expense was$ 500 for video cameras and$150 for poles. )
Some cities have actually headed out of their method to accentuate the financial toll of changing harmed Flock devices– in some cases overemphasizing the expense at the same time.
Cops from Winona, Minnesotaand Rutherfordton, North Carolinahave actually stated that electronic camera replacements cost$3,000 and$3,500 each, respectively– or$2,200 and$2,700 greater than the noted expense. And in Derby, Kansas, after a male harmed 10 Flock electronic cameras, regional cops declared that he triggered $ 26,000 in damages. Depending on whether he harmed the poles, replacements likely would have cost$8,000 to$13,000. Cops from Winona, Rutherfordton, and Derby did not react to an ask for remark.
Flock’s prices, eventually, is much lower than other department costs– like authorities helicopters[which can cost 10s of countless dollars yearly, or working with more policeman.
Still, when compared to other technology-related expenditures, Flock costs can stick out.
In Pasadena, Texas, which has a population of about 148,500the 2026 authorities budget plan set aside $427,133 for Flock,$500,842 for body cam software application, and$500,000 for “Motorola maintenance.” These were, without a doubt, the most pricey innovation purchases. The majority of the other purchases had spending plans of less than$100,000. The Pasadena Police Department did not react to an ask for remark.
Why Some Customers Are Ditching Flock
Throughout the nation, cities huge and little have actually picked to increase their Flock costs substantially over simply a couple of years.
Savannah, Georgia, for example, paid $33,000 for Flock in 2020 and$193,500 in 2025. Snellville, Georgia, paid Flock$5,000 in 2021 and 2022; in 2025, it paid$163,275. This year, since August, the city has actually paid Flock$138,934.94. The Savannah and Snellville Police Departments did not react to ask for remark.
In some cases, Flock’s prices ultimately showed to be expensive.
Jack Hall– the constable of Lorain County, Ohio– just recently revealed that the county would be canceling its Flock agreement. Hall stated that Flock prepared to raise Lorain County’s two-year rate for 15 electronic cameras by 17 percent. For him, it was excessive.
Hall and the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office did not react for remark.
Killingworth, Connecticut, likewise chose to end its relationship with Flock. The town paid $14,600 in 2015 for 4 cams. Killingworth initially selectman Eric Couture kept in mind “personal privacy issues”associated to Flock and stated that it didn’t supply much to authorities relative to its expense.
Couture informed WIRED that Flock’s expense wasn’t completely excessive. He included, the video cameras “did not include any energy “for the town’s”resident state cannon fodder. “
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