Flock CEO says its microphones detect 'just gunshots', but its website says otherwise

Flock CEO and co-founder Garrett Langley told the TechCrunch Disrupt audience in San Francisco that the company's Gunshot Detection microphones detect "just gunshots." TechCrunch reports that Flock's own website describes a much broader set of sounds.

Gunshot Detection is Flock's audio-collection product. It listens for gunshots and other ambient audio across nearby neighborhoods to give "earlier awareness" of potential public safety events. The website says the systems can pinpoint gunfire instantly, "detect street takeovers early to stop chaos before it escalates," and "identify severe crashes in real time so help arrives faster." It also says they can "expand awareness beyond gunfire with alerts for car crashes, fireworks, and sideshows." An FAQ adds that "in addition to gunshots, Flock Gunshot and Audio Detection can detect fireworks, sideshows, and other disruptive community events," and that the company's "detection library is continually expanding to include emerging threats that are relevant" to customers' needs.

The feature, announced last year, drew pushback at once. At launch Flock said the technology would listen for sounds of "screaming." Privacy groups condemned the company for listening for human voices, and Flock amended its website to say "sounds of human distress" instead. Flock later said it pulled the ability to detect "distress" altogether from customers who had tried it.

Onstage with TechCrunch editor-in-chief Connie Loizos, Langley pushed back on what he called misinformation, arguing that many critics misunderstand how the products work. He explained the origin of the product: "Most people don't call 911 when they hear a gunshot, and so that's why we built the product." Some customers then asked for alerts in places like parking lots if someone was being abducted or harmed. Flock prototyped that with a couple of customers, and some people then raised a lot of concerns. Langley conceded to making mistakes and said he was listening to customers. "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."

Asked about the contradiction between his remarks and the marketing materials, he answered, "It's just gunshots."

When TechCrunch reached Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel, the statement was different in substance: "Flock's gunshot detection technology is primarily used to detect gunfire but is also capable of detecting fireworks, sideshows, and potential car crashes." Lewbel said Langley's remarks were meant to stress that Flock's Audio Detection is not designed to monitor conversations or analyze speech and "does not currently detect human screaming or distress."

Langley also said the number of Flock's microphones is comparable to ShotSpotter, which as of 2024 had about 25,000 microphones according to Wired.

TechCrunch places the exchange in a wider context: mounting scrutiny from privacy advocates including the ACLU, and from members of the public, some of whom have gone as far as destroying surveillance cameras. Texas and Florida have moved to end their relationships with Flock, and Amazon's Ring has ended its partnership with the company. Protesters gathered outside the San Francisco venue as Langley took the stage.

Key facts

Flock CEO Garrett Langley said at TechCrunch Disrupt that the company's Gunshot Detection microphones detect "just gunshots."
Flock's website says the audio systems can also alert on car crashes, fireworks, sideshows and street takeovers, and that its detection library is continually expanding.
Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel confirmed the system can detect fireworks, sideshows and potential car crashes, but said it does not currently detect human screaming or distress.
Flock earlier pulled distress detection from customers who tried it, after privacy groups objected to the plan to listen for screaming.
Texas and Florida have moved to end their relationships with Flock, and Amazon's Ring has ended its partnership with the company.

Why it matters

The CEO's public description of what the microphones listen for does not match the company's own marketing or its spokesperson's follow-up. For a product that listens across neighborhoods, what it is designed to pick up is the core question, and the company's answers differ by who is speaking. The episode also fits a longer pattern in the story: the feature was announced with "screaming" detection, reworded to "sounds of human distress" after criticism, and then pulled from customers who tried it.

Who it affects

Residents of neighborhoods where Flock's microphones are installed, since the product listens to ambient audio nearby. Flock's customers, who are told different things about the system's scope. Privacy advocates such as the ACLU, who have scrutinized the company. Government and corporate partners: Texas and Florida have moved to end their relationships with Flock, and Amazon's Ring has ended its partnership.

How to use it

This is a surveillance product sold to Flock's customers, not something readers can try, and the source gives no details on buying or configuring it. The practical takeaway is for anyone evaluating or living near such a system: compare the CEO's statements, the website and the FAQ, and the spokesperson's wording. Here the website lists alerts for car crashes, fireworks and sideshows, while Langley says only gunshots.

How solid is it

The core contradiction is well documented: TechCrunch quotes Langley's onstage remarks, quotes passages from Flock's website and FAQ, and includes a direct statement from a named Flock spokesperson that confirms detection beyond gunfire. The microphone count is weaker: Langley only called it comparable to ShotSpotter, whose figure of about 25,000 microphones as of 2024 comes from Wired reporting, and the source does not give Flock's own number.

Risks and caveats

The detection library is described as continually expanding, so the set of sounds the system can alert on may change. The spokesperson says it does not currently detect human screaming or distress, a word that leaves room for change. The source gives no date for Flock pulling the distress capability and does not say whether the website was changed after Langley's remarks. It also does not name the Texas or Florida agencies or the reasons they gave for ending relationships with Flock.

“It’s just gunshots.”

— Garrett Langley, Flock CEO, when asked about the contradiction with the company's marketing materials