Flock CEO Tells TechCrunch Disrupt Backlash Shouldn't 'Pause Progress,' Says Company Has Never Fired a Customer

Since Sen. Josh Hawley opened an investigation into Flock's cameras on Aug. 27 and the company began offering buyouts in late September, the license plate camera maker has been fighting for its public standing. On Wednesday, Oct. 14, CEO Garrett Langley made his case on a panel at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco.

His message was simple: don't slow down.

"If we want to live in a society where, if you commit a crime, you have a higher probability of being held accountable, we shouldn't pause progress," Langley said.

The driverless car argument

Langley compared Flock to autonomous vehicles. "Technology, at its core, in its definition, is just doing things better. It's not doing things perfect," he said. He called driverless cars "definitively safer than human drivers" and said one accident is not a reason to shut them down.

TechCrunch, in its own account of the panel, pushed back on the analogy: driverless car companies do pause fleets and apply fixes after crashes. Langley did not say Flock would pause anything.

He also said critics hold technology to the standard of perfect rather than the standard of what came before. "Flock is far from perfect; I'm far from perfect, I've made plenty of mistakes," he said.

Who is responsible for misuse

Asked how Flock would guard against abuse by police customers, Langley handed the job to the buyers. "We don't want to tell city leaders how to do their job," he said. "We will provide recommendations, we'll provide defaults, but we're going to minimize the number of mandated features, functions, and policies."

He said abuse can be curbed in a way that "doesn't disrupt the efficacy and flow of a police department." He did not name a specific safeguard.

On whether Flock has ever cut off a department, Langley said the company has not "fired" any customers. "If a customer knowingly broke the law, we would fire them immediately," he said.

The allegations that prompted the question are on the record. A Texas sheriff's office allegedly used Flock's database to investigate a woman who had an abortion. A fired San Jose officer is accused of sharing Flock data with a relative of a domestic-violence suspect. A 2025 SF Standard investigation surfaced roughly 1.6 million queries by out-of-state agencies against San Francisco cameras. Those are allegations and findings about how customers used the system, not rulings against Flock.

Audio, faces and the company's own website

Langley said Flock's gunshot detection feature records "just gunshots." Flock's website describes a broader tool, one that can "detect street takeovers early to stop chaos before it escalates" and "expand awareness beyond gunfire with alerts for car crashes, fireworks, and sideshows."

Privacy advocates have argued that Flock's earlier plans to detect screaming would mean devices constantly collecting human voices, which they call mass surveillance of the public.

Langley also said misinformation has cost the company customers. His example was a customer that ended its contract because it believed Flock's devices performed facial recognition. The cameras do not do facial recognition, but they can detect and track people. He blamed a "landscape where social media is so interwoven with politics and is so rife with misinformation."

The case for the cameras

Langley's strongest argument is staffing. He said law enforcement employment has fallen rapidly, particularly since COVID, and pointed to San Francisco, where he said hundreds of positions are open and "will probably never be filled." His pitch is that technology lets thin departments solve more crimes.

He also said he accepts the cost of leading a controversial company. "This is the price you pay, and I think it's worth it because there's millions and millions of people who have a better life today," he said.

The critics' position, as stated by privacy advocates and by local officials who have voted to pull cameras, is that a searchable, shared database of vehicle movements invites use beyond the original crime. They point especially to access by agencies outside the buying jurisdiction.

The business fallout

Flock disclosed a voluntary buyout covering roughly 270 employees, about 18% of its workforce, that closes at the end of October. The company was last valued at $8.4 billion and has raised $1.2 billion since 2017.

South Windsor, Connecticut's Town Council approved a resolution requiring police to suspend use of Flock cameras immediately and remove them within 60 days. The cameras went in during April 2025 without a prior public announcement.

Flock operates roughly 120,000 cameras across 49 states, according to one account of the company's footprint.

The open questions are specific. The buyout window closes in about two weeks. South Windsor's 60-day removal clock is running. Hawley's investigation has no announced findings, and Flock has not said whether it will add any binding limits on how customers use its data.