The Abington Township Police Department is ending its contracts with an AI-driven surveillance start-up over data security concerns, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported today.
The company, called Flock Safety, uses surveillance cameras to capture the license plates and other features of passing vehicles. These images are sent to Flock’s servers, where an AI platform scans license plates and analyzes images to index characteristics like make, model, and color.
The technology allows police to search for vehicles by behavior, rather than plate number. Abington has one permanent camera up in the township and a few cameras at the station, The Inquirer said. Lieutenant Joe Blei said systems are in place to prevent officers from misusing the cameras, and that the department approves access only for criminal investigations. Civil matters are off the table.
While Abington officials said the technology has assisted officers in making arrests in cases of violent crime, thousands of the department’s searches have appeared in public data dumps on sites like HaveIBeenFlocked.com.
Last week, the ACLU reported that the outfit has received a “torrent of criticism and overwhelming public opposition to its mass government surveillance product.”
In response, Flock announced a reduction of its standard data retention from one month to one week, stating that “roughly 90 percent of all searches on Flock already happen within a week” of the data’s collection.
“For cases that need more time, Flock is launching Evidence Mode: when a search is tied to a case number, that data is preserved instead of aging out after 7 days,” Flock said in a statement. “Agencies can still set retention to whatever their state or local policy requires. Evidence Mode will be provided to customers at no cost.”
The company “builds technology that helps communities deter crime, respond to emergencies, and investigate safety incidents. We believe communities shouldn’t have to choose between public safety and privacy”, their website says. It claims that 27 missing people were located daily in 2025 through their services.
Flock was valued at $7.5 billion in 2025, according to Forbes.
Abington police looking for a replacement as its contracts with Flock expire. A contract set to expire this month cost $9,225 per year for two years, and a three-year contract ending in 2028 costs $10,500 annually, The Inquirer said.
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Photo: Flock Safety