Flock CEO says its microphones hear only gunshots, but its website lists more

Garrett Langley, co-founder and CEO of US surveillance company Flock, defended the firm's Gunshot Detection audio product onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in October 2026. He maintained that the microphones Flock places across neighborhoods listen for gunfire and nothing else. The company's own marketing, however, describes a considerably wider range of sounds.

Flock's website says its audio systems can locate gunfire instantly and also flag street takeovers, severe crashes, fireworks and sideshows. An FAQ on the site adds that the company's detection library keeps growing to cover new threats relevant to individual customers.

Asked about the gap between his remarks and that material, Langley replied: "It's just gunshots." Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel later acknowledged that the technology is mainly used for gunfire but can also pick up fireworks, sideshows and potential car crashes. Lewbel said the CEO meant to stress that the system is not built to monitor conversations or analyze speech, and does not currently detect screaming or distress.

The screaming controversy

When Flock announced the feature last year, it said the system would listen for screaming. After privacy groups objected to the monitoring of human voices, the company reworded this as sounds of human distress and later said it had removed distress detection from the customers who had tested it. Langley explained that some clients wanted alerts about abductions or assaults in parking lots, that Flock built a prototype, and that mistakes were made.

Langley argued that critics misunderstand how Flock's products work and said the company's microphone count is comparable to rival ShotSpotter, which reportedly had about 25,000 microphones as of 2024.

Mounting pressure

Best known for license plate reading cameras, Flock faces growing criticism from privacy advocates including the ACLU and from members of the public worried about mass surveillance. Protesters gathered outside the venue as Langley spoke, and some opponents have gone as far as destroying the company's cameras.

Texas and Florida have moved to end their relationships with Flock, and Amazon's Ring has ended its partnership with the company. What automated sensors in public spaces actually listen for remains a central question in the debate over AI-enabled surveillance.