This $4 Billion Car Surveillance Startup Says It Cuts Crime. But It Likely Broke State Laws.
The AI surveillance cameras on John’s Pass Bridge, southwest of Tampa, Florida didn’t last a week before they were flagged for breaking state rules. Installed in February 2023 on behalf of car surveillance startup Flock Safety and its customer, the Treasure Island Police Department, the devices had been placed there without the approval of the Florida Department of Transportation. It wanted them taken down.
In October, the agency was still waiting for their removal. “FDOT is requesting that the Flock camera on the John’s Pass Bridge be removed,” an FDOT official wrote to Flock, according to emails obtained by Forbes. “FDOT does not allow installations on our structures except for special cases.” In November, a Flock employee took the camera down, the company confirmed.
For Flock, a $4 billion company on a mission to “reduce crime in America by 25%” this might sound like a simple paperwork slip-up, an anomaly. But it’s one of hundreds of such incidents across the country. Company communications with state transportation agencies obtained via public records requests, and interviews with more than half a dozen former employees, suggest that in its rush to install surveillance cameras in the absence of clear regulatory frameworks, Flock repeatedly broke the law in at least five states. In two, state agencies have banned Flock staff from installing new cameras.
