Flock Safety Offers Buyouts to 1,500-Person Staff Amid Surveillance Backlash

Surveillance technology company Flock Safety has offered voluntary severance packages to employees in an effort to shrink its 1,500-person workforce, according to a report from Wired covered by TechCrunch AI.

The startup unveiled the buyout program on Friday, describing the terms in an internal announcement as the most generous separation package the company has ever offered. Flock expects a significant portion of its staff to express interest and plans to grant packages to a majority of applicants. Wired reported that without voluntary departures, Flock would almost certainly need to initiate layoffs.

The buyout offer comes as Flock faces severe pushback over its automated license plate recognition technology. In August, The Washington Post identified 46 instances where police officers were accused of misusing Flock systems, including cases where officers allegedly stalked wives, girlfriends, or ex-partners.

Following those reports, Florida and Texas both announced they will stop using Flock technology. An anti-surveillance advocacy group also identified 90 cities that dropped the platform in August alone, representing a fourfold increase compared to the prior month.

The public backlash and customer losses have taken a toll on internal operations. In a recent appearance on the All-In podcast, Flock CEO Garrett Langley said the single biggest damage from the external pushback has been to internal employee morale.

TechCrunch AI reported that it contacted Flock for comment regarding the voluntary separation packages.