Flock CEO blames bots for backlash in leaked police-conference audio

Flock CEO Garrett Langley told police chiefs that opposition to his surveillance company was largely manufactured by bots, according to leaked audio published by 404 Media on October 26. His unsupported explanation came as dozens of cities had canceled contracts for cameras that create searchable records of people’s movements.

A Russian-bot explanation without evidence

Joseph Cox and Jason Koebler reported that 404 Media obtained the recording from Langley’s Sunday appearance at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Orlando. Speaking to police chiefs, he attributed viral criticism to paid posts and anonymous accounts, then extended that explanation to protests around the country.

Langley claimed social media discussion of Flock had fallen about 95 percent since July. He also claimed it dropped 50 percent overnight after a Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian data center. 404 Media said he supplied no evidence and described the supposed connection between the strikes and reduced bot activity as a disproven theory.

He acknowledged that what he called inorganic activity had produced organic activity. But he said the recurrence of the same people, signs and messages at protests was itself evidence that the opposition was not organic. His account treated similarities among protesters as grounds to question their authenticity, rather than addressing their objections to the cameras.

I give my wife a lot of credit. She was, like, you should never apologize

Garrett Langley, in conference audio obtained by 404 Media

Community trust was on the agenda

The session was a fireside chat with David Rausch, IACP’s president and director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Its published description promised a discussion of license-plate readers’ opportunities and challenges, including privacy, transparency, governance, data use and community trust. Those were the stated subjects of the event where Langley dismissed critics as inauthentic.

The advice against apologizing followed an apology Langley had already made for calling DeFlock, a group that maps Flock camera locations, a “terroristic organization.” In the conference audio, he acknowledged making mistakes over the company’s nine years and during the summer, while defending its work. He also said he would prefer never to do media interviews again.

The searches behind the objections

Flock’s automatic license-plate readers scan passing vehicles’ plates, colors, makes and models, producing timestamped movement logs. Law enforcement customers can query those records without a warrant. The system therefore records more than a plate at a single location: it makes vehicle sightings available for later searches by police.

Its national network lets officers search beyond their own jurisdiction or state when other departments have added their cameras to the shared system. 404 Media cited a recent estimate of about 80,000 cameras. That sharing arrangement means a department’s participation can make local vehicle sightings searchable by officers elsewhere in the country.

The criticism includes specific uses of that access. 404 Media previously revealed local police conducting Flock lookups for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and a Texas officer searching cameras nationwide for a woman who self-administered an abortion. The outlet also reported that dozens of cities had canceled Flock contracts over the preceding 18 months.

Langley predicted the opposition would eventually subside, presenting intense debate as a stage that effective police tools must pass through. Flock did not respond to 404 Media’s request for comment.