Flock Safety built its brand on roadside plate cameras. Now the company is betting on their latest technology – AI surveillance drones.
CEO Garrett Langley said this month on the “All-In” podcast that Flock’s license plate readers now only make up half of Flock’s “forward-looking revenue”, and he said drones are, “our fastest growing business right now.”
Police departments around Charlotte are buying in. The pitch is simple. A 911 call launches a docked drone before a patrol car leaves the lot.
Flock calls the program Drone as First Responder. The aircraft sit in rooftop docks at stations and firehouses. Then operators fly them remotely and stream live video back to headquarters.
The company’s Alpha drone can reach about 60 mph. Flock also says its camera can read plates from up to 2,000 feet. Unlike hobby drones, these craft can fly beyond an operator’s line of sight. Therefore, dispatchers can run several missions from a desk. Police can fly multiple drones with AI-driven navigation from a desk and use advanced AI technology to ‘predict’ possible criminal offenders even before a crime is committed.
Mooresville was among the first local agencies to deploy the system. The department launched their first drone program in late 2025. Three dock at headquarters near U.S. 21 and Brawley School Road. Three now sit at One Mooresville Center.
The Flock drone growth arrives as the company faces a wave of alleged abuse.
On July 29, agents arrested CMPD Officer Seth Elliott. Investigators say he queried Flock and the state’s CJLEADS database on June 16. Records allege he ran an undercover plate for a Watauga County drug target.
CMPD does not own Flock cameras. Still, Charlotte officers can search devices owned by other agencies. Elliott was charged with illegally accessing a government computer and placed on unpaid leave.
Mooresville faced its own case. Officer Elizabeth Snowman was arrested after alleged searches of her boyfriend’s ex-wife. Police later found policy violations among other officers, but no extra criminal charges.
South Carolina saw similar fallout. Greer fired two officers in June after unauthorized searches. Greenville County later fired two sheriff’s employees after an audit. Meanwhile, Pageland police said vandals cut down Flock poles.
Flock has shortened default data retention to seven days and made audits mandatory. Even so, the local question remains sharp. Drones can beat officers to a scene. Yet the same system has already been used to track partners, neighbors, and undercover cars. That debate is no longer abstract here.
