Flock Safety, the increasingly controversial manufacturer of automatic license plate reader (ALPR) technology, has featured at least four police departments on its official YouTube channel that have since been hit with allegations of misusing the company’s surveillance tools, a review of the firm’s promotional content shows.

The company profiled Georgia’s Savannah Police Department in a March 2022 YouTube video. Just recently, four department officers and two civilian staff members were placed on administrative leave after an internal investigation uncovered “potential misuses” of Flock’s ALPR system. A second Georgia agency, the Albany Police Department, was the subject of a polished 2024 promotional video from Flock; five Albany officers have since been arrested and charged in connection to alleged misuse of the technology.

Flock also highlighted Georgia’s Sandy Springs Police Department in a 2020 video that touted the tool’s ability to help police target so-called porch pirates (package thieves). Last year, a Sandy Springs officer was terminated amid an internal probe into alleged misuse of Flock’s system. Most recently, Texas’ Baytown Police Department was featured in a 2025 Flock video focused on ALPR use for carjacking response; just last week, a Baytown officer resigned amid active investigations into their alleged misuse of the technology.

Allegations of ALPR misuse have impacted law enforcement agencies across the United States, including departments in Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin. In Georgia alone — home to the Savannah, Albany, and Sandy Springs incidents — ALPR misuse allegations have also been reported at the sheriff’s offices of Coweta County, Cherokee County, Habersham County, and Richmond County. While these cases confirm that most police departments have systems in place to detect and resolve ALPR misuse, Flock’s own promotional content makes clear that abuse can occur even at agencies the company held up as exemplary models of proper use.

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In response to WIRED’s request for comment, Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel emphasized that “misuse was identified and addressed” in all active cases. He argued that isolated incidents of individual misuse should not erase the broader value Flock provides to police departments.

“That is exactly why accountability tools and internal review processes exist,” Lewbel said in an emailed statement. “When improper use is detected, agencies can investigate, take action, and hold individuals accountable. That should be viewed as evidence that oversight mechanisms are working, not as a sign that the entire department or city should be broadly condemned.”

Flock’s YouTube video on the Albany Police Department includes interviews with senior crime and intelligence analyst David Sparks — whom Flock honored as a 2024 “Power Partner” — and Albany Police Chief Michael J. Persley. In the promotional spot, Sparks describes Flock as a critical tool for fighting “property crime” and “crimes of opportunity.”

“To ensure that the community trusts us, there are a lot of things we have to do, and the first part of building that trust is open, honest transparency and communication,” Persley says in the video. “So I'm not trying to listen to your conversations, I'm not trying to see what's happening in your backyard. We wanna make sure that you're safe.”

On July 6, the Albany Police Department announced it had fired five officers following an internal investigation into "serious policy violations involving the improper use" of ALPRs. The department confirmed three of the officers were fired directly for improper ALPR use, while the other two were terminated over separate, unrelated policy violations uncovered during the administrative probe. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has charged the officers with misuse of license plate data and violating their oaths of office. The Albany Police Department did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

Flock’s 2022 Savannah-focused video centers on an interview with then-Police Major Robert Gavin, who praised Flock for simplifying data sharing between different law enforcement agencies. “We spent a lot of time doing community talks about what we're gonna use them for, what we're not gonna use them for,” Gavin said, adding that the technology’s core goal is to “keep everybody safe.”

On July 31, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson wrote in a Facebook post that the allegations involving the six department employees had been referred to the GBI to determine whether criminal charges should be filed. The Savannah Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. The GBI confirmed it is investigating both the Savannah and Albany incidents, but declined to release additional details, noting the Savannah investigation is “still active.”

According to Johnson, the Savannah Police Department conducted its internal probe through the Flock Safety Audit Assistance Program, a tool Flock launched this past April. In a press release announcing the program, Flock said it “continuously monitors system activity and surfaces search patterns that fall outside an agency’s typical usage.” Savannah Police Chief Lenny Gunther told local reporters the investigation found 127 inappropriate searches out of 39,000 total searches the department conducted this year. “Public trust is non-negotiable,” Johnson said in his Facebook statement. “These tools exist to keep our community safe, not for personal or unauthorized use.”

In 2020, Flock shared a video produced by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the Sandy Springs Police Department’s arrest of a porch pirate. The video did not include interviews with Sandy Springs personnel, but highlighted that the suspect was arrested after a Flock camera captured their license plate. Roughly five years later, the Sandy Springs Police Department launched an internal investigation into whether one of its officers misused Flock’s technology. Investigators found the officer allegedly ran ALPR searches to support beta testing for Signal 8, a law enforcement software company that employed the officer for a second side job. Police said the officer refused to cooperate with the investigation and was subsequently terminated.

Flock showcased the Baytown Police Department in 2025 as part of a short series highlighting cases where police said Flock was instrumental in apprehending a suspect. “We use it multiple times every day, and once I log in to my computer, Flock is the first thing I click on,” a Baytown officer says in the video. On July 30, Baytown Police Chief John Stringer announced the resignation of an officer who had been under investigation for alleged misuse of Flock’s technology. The Baytown Police Department directed WIRED to the department’s previous press releases, citing an ongoing investigation. In a public video statement, Stringer said two probes into the alleged misuse — one internal, one criminal — remained active. “Accountability to the fullest extent of the law will be pursued,” Stringer added.

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Update 08/07/26 11:00am ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from the Baytown Police Department.