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By Ashley Brasfield <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company behind one of the nation\u2019s largest roadway surveillance camera networks has expanded its technology into the skies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flock Safety\u2019s Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR), which have built a massive, interconnected surveillance net across American roadways, have officially taken their technology airborne, according to a MotorBiscuit report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As highlighted in a viral X post by Josh Walkos<\/a>, Flock is rolling out \u201cFlock Alpha\u201d\u2014a highly advanced, autonomous police drone designed to track vehicles and suspects from the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember when everyone was told Flock was \u201cjust reading license plates\u201d? Walkos noted the escalating nature of the tech in his post, writing,\u201dRemember when everyone was told Flock was \u2018just reading license plates\u2019? Anyway, here\u2019s Flock Alpha, the autonomous drone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After partnering with aviation software company Aerodome<\/a>, Flock<\/a> launched its \u201cDrone as First Responder\u201d (DFR) platform, expanding its surveillance network beyond fixed cameras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its autonomous Flock Alpha drone can launch from a weatherproof docking station in response to 911 calls, gunshot detection alerts or ALPR<\/a> hits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Officers can deploy the drone from a smartphone, and it can fly up to 60 mph, often arriving before patrol vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Equipped with thermal imaging, high-definition cameras and optical zoom, the drone can stream live video to dispatchers and read a vehicle\u2019s license plate from as far as 2,000 feet away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lesser-known tech company called Axon is giving Flock a run for its money when it comes to installing license plate-reading cameras powered by artificial intelligence (AI) into streetlights in the name of \u201cpublic safety.\u201d Flock says<\/a> the system is designed to help first responders locate missing people, monitor police pursuits and assess emergencies, while privacy advocates argue it dramatically expands law enforcement\u2019s surveillance capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union <\/a>(ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation<\/a> (EFF) have warned that Flock\u2019s growing network of cameras and sensors amounts to a nationwide surveillance system with limited oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the company\u2019s ALPRs collect data on all passing vehicles \u2014 not just those linked to criminal investigations \u2014 critics say adding autonomous drones with thermal imaging and long-range cameras gives law enforcement a far more expansive ability to monitor the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flock cameras now log approximately 20 BILLION vehicle scans every month. That\u2019s not targeted policing of bad guys. That\u2019s mass collection and surveillance – not safety. Civil liberties groups also argue that without clear limits on when the drones can be deployed, how long collected data can be stored, and who can access it, the technology could be used beyond emergency response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They say the expansion significantly increases law enforcement\u2019s ability to monitor and track people\u2019s movements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is moving beyond tracking license plates and car details, as Flock left some cameras on walking trails open to the internet where we learned they follow people, zoom in capable of reading smartphone screens… So they’ve already been working on tracking people, and these are the drones they’ve been talking about implementing for some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18188,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18187\/revisions\/18188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Anyway, here\u2019s Flock Alpha, the autonomous drone.
It only flies 60 mph, launches itself, streams thermal video, can be flown from a cops phone and reads your license plate from 2,000 feet. Good stuff. pic.twitter.com\/7Swhu8jTOn<\/a>\u2014 Champagne Joshi (@JoshWalkos) July 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n
Axon is behind the \u201cAxon Lightpole\u201d \u2014 which uses\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/sOrByXIJhR<\/a>\u2014 Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n
STOP THE FLOCK. pic.twitter.com\/4CSZyGXiwf<\/a>\u2014 Rep. Scott Perry (@RepScottPerry) July 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n