<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><span class="section-lead">Flock Safety, </span>an AI-powered traffic camera company, is reportedly planning to cut approximately 18 percent of its workforce, equating to around 270 employees, according to a report by Reuters on October 9, 2026.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Flock operates a network of 120,000 cameras across the United States and is the largest manufacturer of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in the country. The company has faced significant backlash, partly due to incidents involving police officers misusing the technology.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Oakland-based advocacy group Secure Justice, which monitors the use of automated license plate readers at the municipal level, reported that in August 2026, more towns and cities canceled their contracts with Flock than ever before. Of the 214 cities that have terminated contracts with Flock since 2021, 90 did so in August 2026.</p> </blockquote>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Signs of financial difficulties for Flock emerged in September when the company offered voluntary buyouts to employees, accompanied by an internal email that included a severance package for those willing to leave. Despite being valued at over $8 billion, Flock may not achieve its revenue targets this year as municipalities continue to cancel contracts.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Additionally, Flock is facing increased legal scrutiny. A federal judge in Oklahoma recently ruled that the company's technology infringed on a woman's Fourth Amendment rights after a sheriff's deputy utilized ALPRs to access a month's worth of her location history. This ruling is one of the first to address the constitutionality of ALPR searches, though it does not establish a binding precedent.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Judge Sara E. Hill stated in her ruling, "By virtue of how ALPR technology works… officers using these systems have access to a continuously updated location history for all vehicles caught on ALPR cameras within the network. This is a type of indiscriminate mass surveillance."</p>