By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- Flock Safety announced Aug. 13 it is reducing its recommended default retention period for automated license plate reader (ALPR) data from 30 days to seven.
- The company will require law enforcement customers to activate mandatory audit tools, case codes and automatic account lockouts to detect and prevent system misuse.
- The changes come amid growing public scrutiny over how agencies retain, share and monitor access to ALPR data, with some cities ending or reconsidering contracts.
- CEO Garrett Langley said the updates respond to demands for stronger privacy, accountability and transparency.
- Existing customers may keep previously approved retention periods, and Flock will roll out a free “Evidence Mode” feature for agencies that adopt the seven-day standard.
ATLANTA — Flock Safety is reducing its recommended default retention period for automated license plate reader data and will require law enforcement customers to adopt new safeguards intended to identify and prevent misuse of the system, the company announced Aug. 13.
CEO Garrett Langley framed the changes as a direct response to public demand for stronger privacy protections and oversight. The announcement follows growing scrutiny of ALPR technology, as several cities have ended or reconsidered contracts over privacy, security and data-sharing concerns, and some Flock cameras have been targeted by vandalism.
Flock said its data shows officers complete more than 90% of searches without a full license plate number within a week, and it cited that finding in support of shortening the default retention window from 30 days to seven. Existing customers will retain any previously approved local retention periods. For investigations extending beyond seven days, the company plans to introduce a free “Evidence Mode” feature allowing detectives to preserve specific records tied to active cases before automatic deletion.
By the end of 2026, Flock will require all law enforcement customers to activate its Audit Assistance feature, which flags unusual search activity for administrator review; more than a third of customers have already adopted it. The company will also implement automatic account lockouts for users whose activity meets its criteria for abnormal behavior, and will require officers to enter a case code for every search, with emergency-use exceptions automatically flagged for review.
Additional changes include mandatory multifactor authentication for all accounts, a third-party cybersecurity review by Bishop Fox with findings expected to be published in September, and a new vulnerability disclosure program for security researchers. Flock also said it will publish a plain-language explanation of its customer contract the week of Aug. 17 after acknowledging confusion over data ownership; the company said customers own the data collected by their cameras and control how it is shared.
Addressing a recent case involving a wrongful traffic stop, Langley said officers are required to verify an ALPR alert before taking enforcement action, noting the system assigns confidence scores to plate matches and filters out low-confidence results. The company said its technology assists with more than 1 million crimes annually and reported detecting more than 1,000 missing people and more than 20,000 stolen vehicles in July 2026 alone.