Garrett Langley, co‑founder and CEO of surveillance company Flock, told the audience at TechCrunch Disrupt that the company’s Gunshot Detection product listens for—and alerts on—"just gunshots." Langley said the system was built because many people do not call 911 when they hear gunfire, and the product aims to provide earlier awareness of public safety events.
Langley described how some customers asked for broader alerts after installing microphones in locations such as parking lots, requesting notifications for possible abductions or assaults. Flock prototyped those capabilities with a small number of customers but later scaled back. "There’s only a couple customers that were prototyping it with us, and we said, ‘OK, great, it’s just going to do gunshots, plain and simple. If a gun goes off, we’ll notify, and if not, that’s all it’s going to listen to,'" Langley told TechCrunch editor‑in‑chief Connie Loizos onstage.
Company website and FAQ describe wider audio detection
Flock’s website presents a broader set of audio detection claims than Langley’s onstage remarks. According to the site and an FAQ, the company’s audio systems can instantly localize gunfire and also "detect street takeovers early to stop chaos before it escalates," "identify severe crashes in real time so help arrives faster," and expand awareness beyond gunfire with alerts for car crashes, fireworks, and sideshows. The FAQ further notes that the company’s "detection library is continually expanding to include emerging threats that are relevant" to customers.
Past controversy and adjustments to features
The Gunshot Detection feature, announced last year, immediately drew criticism. In its initial announcement, Flock said the technology would listen for sounds of "screaming," which prompted privacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), to condemn the company for listening for human voices. In response, Flock revised its website language to refer to "sounds of human distress" and later removed the "distress" detection capability from customers who were trialing it.
When TechCrunch reached out to Flock, spokesperson Paris Lewbel said: "Flock’s gunshot detection technology is primarily used to detect gunfire but is also capable of detecting fireworks, sideshows, and potential car crashes. CEO Garrett Langley’s remarks were intended to emphasize that Flock’s Audio Detection technology is not designed to monitor conversations or analyze speech and does not currently detect human screaming or distress."
Public backlash and contract losses
Langley’s statements come amid growing scrutiny from privacy advocates and members of the public worried about misuse of the company’s technology. Protesters gathered outside the TechCrunch Disrupt venue in San Francisco as Langley took the stage, and some people have gone further—damaging surveillance cameras associated with the technology.
The company has also lost some partnerships and contracts: Texas and Florida have moved to end their relationships with Flock, and Amazon’s Ring ended its partnership with the company. Langley said Flock’s number of microphones is comparable to ShotSpotter, which Wired reported in 2024 had about 25,000 microphones deployed.
Why it matters
The debate centers on the balance between faster response to public safety incidents and the privacy risks of expanded ambient audio collection. Flock argues its system improves early awareness of emergencies, while critics warn that broader audio surveillance can enable mass monitoring. The gap between the company’s public statements, its website descriptions, and product modifications during trials has intensified scrutiny over precisely what audio the systems detect and how those detections are used.
