{
  "id": 14162608,
  "title": "What Flock Actually Costs Cities Across the Country",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/what-flock-actually-costs-cities-across-the-country",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-13T09:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Wired",
    "slug": "wired",
    "url": "https://www.wired.com/story/how-much-does-flock-actually-cost-cities/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In 2022, the annual cost of Flock's surveillance technology for the Covington Police Department rose to $81,250. This increase was attributed to the addition of 15 \"Falcon\" cameras equipped with advanced license plate reading technology, costing $37,500, as well as $3,750 for installation and maintenance of the initial camera fleet. In 2024, Covington paid Flock $113,225, with $87,500 dedicated to the upkeep of its existing 35 cameras over the next five years, and the remaining sum spent on eight new Falcon cameras. The following year, Covington's expenditure increased to $159,000, covering camera maintenance and participation in the company's Drone as First Responder program, which utilizes drones to swiftly reach emergency scenes and relay footage to the police station. It remains uncertain what Covington will ultimately pay Flock in 2026, but up to August, the department had already disbursed $201,000, comprising $100,000 for camera maintenance, $800 for a single camera replacement, and $100,200 for new software products. Although the Covington Police Department did not respond to a request for comment, the use of Flock's surveillance systems is being closely examined in various cities due to concerns over privacy violations. Flock did not provide a response when contacted for this report. WIRED obtained documents via a public record request from a dozen Flock clients across the nation and compared them to publicly available data from additional sources, revealing the true financial burden these contracts impose on communities, the contractual structures, and how the agreements can evolve over several years, resulting in long-term financial obligations for taxpayers without a clear resolution. Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, explains that once police officers test a tool, it becomes challenging to remove it politically. The process of Flock gaining entrance into police departments began when the company sold its license plate readers to private homeowner associations (HOAs) in 2017. By 2019, Flock began offering its services to police departments, capitalizing on the existing camera networks of these HOAs. For example, in Alpharetta, Georgia, the police department paid Flock $17,680 for five Falcon cameras and access to the Flock Wing software, which can extract vehicle and license plate information from unbranded camera footage. The following year, Alpharetta bought more Flock cameras, citing \"several\" local private homeowner associations that had already purchased Flock and granted them camera access, and thus requested city cameras to be integrated into the Flock system. By 2025, Alpharetta's annual Flock bill had skyrocketed to $381,000, reflecting the company's growing influence in the city. Flock often employs financial incentives to attract police department clients, as seen in Clearview AI, Ring, and Taser's aggressive sales tactics. Companies such as Flock may offer expanded product lines or trial periods to entice customers. In 2025, Alpharetta paid for an Elite Package upgrade of FlockOS, a real-time crime-center platform, as well as a 90-day trial of Flock's Nova product. To secure long-term contracts, Flock frequently offers discounts for multi-year agreements. In 2024, Alpharetta entered into a five-year contract with Flock, paying $254,250 the first year and $238,000 for each subsequent year, which is $232,500 less than the combined cost of five one-year deals, providing a \"price-lock promotion.\" Alpharetta Police Department declined to comment on the agreement. Other cities have similarly benefited from Flock's long-term contracts by bundling the technology with other surveillance systems. For instance, the police chief of Greenfield, California, proposed swapping SurveillanceGrid and Paladin surveillance technologies for a five-year Flock contract, which would cost $136,940 annually, $24,000 more than the current expenditure.",
  "summary": "WIRED examined contracts from over two dozen cities and towns that shed light on how Flock’s pricing and business model functions, and how it stacks up against its peers.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Wired Business",
        "title": "What Flock Actually Costs Cities Across the Country",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/what-flock-actually-costs-cities-across-the-country-14163386",
        "published": "2026-10-13T09:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}