Flock Safety Founded to Deploy Automated License Plate Surveillance in Neighborhoods

Garrett Langley founds Flock Safety in Atlanta and presents at Y Combinator Demo Day in Mountain View. The company initially targets homeowners associations and neighborhoods with automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras, charging $25-50 per home annually to create surveillance networks ostensibly for catching property criminals.

The business model positions Flock as a “police multiplier” - extending law enforcement reach into residential communities through camera networks funded by neighborhoods themselves. Early implementations focus on tracking stolen lawnmowers and bicycles in Atlanta suburbs, but the infrastructure being built would later evolve into a warrantless mass surveillance network used by thousands of police departments nationwide.

Founded after Langley’s own experience with neighborhood crime, the company emerges at a time when automated surveillance technology is becoming cheaper and more accessible, setting the stage for rapid expansion of license plate tracking without corresponding privacy protections or warrant requirements.