Flock's gunshot mics do more than detect gunfire, despite CEO's claim

At TechCrunch Disrupt, Flock CEO Garrett Langley defended the company’s audio-surveillance product, Gunshot Detection, telling TechCrunch editor-in-chief Connie Loizos onstage that the technology detects “just gunshots.” Flock’s own website describes a broader set of capabilities: it says the company’s audio systems can pinpoint gunfire instantly, “detect street takeovers early to stop chaos before it escalates,” “identify severe crashes in real time so help arrives faster,” and “expand awareness beyond gunfire with alerts for car crashes, fireworks, and sideshows.”

Gunshot Detection faced immediate pushback when Flock announced it last year, after the company said the technology would listen for sounds of “screaming.” Privacy groups criticized Flock for listening for human voices, prompting the company to amend its website to say “sounds of human distress” instead. Flock later said it had pulled the ability to detect “distress” altogether from the customers who had tried it.

Langley said the product grew out of a simple observation: most people don’t call 911 when they hear a gunshot, which is why Flock built it. He said some customers who had the sensors in parking lots then asked whether the system could also alert them if someone was being abducted or harmed, so Flock prototyped that capability with a couple of customers before concerns from those testing it led the company to scale back. “It’s just gunshots,” Langley said when asked about the gap between his remarks and Flock’s marketing materials.

Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel offered a narrower account when TechCrunch followed up, saying the gunshot-detection technology is primarily used to detect gunfire but is also capable of detecting fireworks, sideshows and potential car crashes, and that Langley’s onstage remarks were meant to stress that the audio system isn’t designed to monitor conversations or analyze speech and doesn’t currently detect screaming or distress. An FAQ on Flock’s site similarly states that the detection library is continually expanding to include emerging threats relevant to customers’ needs.

The contradiction comes amid mounting scrutiny of Flock from privacy advocates including the ACLU, with protesters gathered outside the Disrupt venue during Langley’s interview. Langley said the number of Flock’s microphones is comparable to ShotSpotter, which had about 25,000 microphones as of 2024, according to Wired. Texas and Florida have both moved to end their relationships with Flock, and Amazon’s Ring has ended its partnership with the company.

Why it matters

The gap between Langley’s description and Flock’s own marketing illustrates the trust problem facing audio-surveillance vendors: even a technically narrow deployment can expand later, and regulators and customers evaluating products like Gunshot Detection will be watching whether capabilities quietly broaden once contracts are signed.