Covington, Georgia, a city often celebrated for its picturesque charm, has seen its investment in surveillance technology escalate dramatically over the past five years, with the local police department significantly increasing its financial commitment to Flock Safety, a company specializing in automated license plate readers (ALPR) and other surveillance tools. What began as a modest expenditure in 2020 has ballooned into a substantial annual cost, raising questions about the long-term financial implications and the expanding scope of public surveillance. The Covington Police Department’s financial records reveal a consistent and growing reliance on Flock Safety, a trend mirrored in communities nationwide, as the company offers increasingly sophisticated and diverse surveillance solutions.
A Chronicle of Growing Investment in Flock Safety
The financial entanglement between the Covington Police Department and Flock Safety began in 2020. In that inaugural year, the department allocated $40,000 for the maintenance of 20 Flock cameras strategically positioned throughout the city. This initial investment represented a commitment to leveraging technology for public safety, a goal shared by many municipal law enforcement agencies. The following year, 2021, saw a continuation of this financial outlay, with the department again spending $40,000 for the same service, indicating a stable, albeit foundational, operational cost.
A significant shift occurred in 2022. The cost to the city more than doubled, reaching $81,250. This substantial increase was attributed to the acquisition and installation of fifteen new "Falcon" cameras. Flock Safety highlights these cameras as possessing "more sophisticated technology for reading license plates," suggesting an upgrade in the system’s capabilities. Of the $81,250 expenditure, $37,500 was specifically designated for these advanced Falcon cameras, with an additional $3,750 covering their installation. The remaining portion of the budget was dedicated to maintaining the existing fleet of 20 cameras, demonstrating an expansion of both the physical surveillance network and its associated operational expenses.
The upward trajectory of spending continued. By 2024, Covington’s financial commitment to Flock Safety had climbed to $113,225. This figure encompassed $87,500 for the maintenance of an expanded network of 35 cameras. Notably, this maintenance rate was secured under a five-year agreement, signaling a long-term financial commitment from the city. The remainder of the 2024 budget allocated towards Flock was used to acquire eight additional Falcon cameras, further increasing the city’s surveillance footprint.
The financial relationship did not cease there. In 2025, the expenditure rose to an impressive $159,000. This payment covered not only the ongoing maintenance of the camera infrastructure but also included enrollment in Flock Safety’s "Drone as First Responder" program. This innovative program deploys drones to emergency scenes, providing real-time aerial footage to police departments, thus offering a new dimension to their response capabilities.
Looking ahead to 2026, the financial commitment remains significant, even if the precise annual total is yet to be fully realized. Through August of the current year, Covington has already paid Flock Safety a substantial $201,000. This includes $100,000 for the maintenance of its existing camera network, $800 for the replacement of a single camera, and a considerable $100,200 allocated for new software products. These ongoing investments underscore a deepening reliance on Flock’s evolving suite of surveillance technologies.
Flock Safety: A Growing Presence in Public Surveillance
Flock Safety, founded in 2017, initially targeted private homeowner associations (HOAs) with its license plate reading technology. This strategic entry point allowed the company to establish a network of cameras that could later be leveraged by law enforcement. By 2019, Flock expanded its offerings to police departments, presenting an attractive proposition: access to an existing camera network, thereby circumventing the need for departments to build their surveillance infrastructure from the ground up.
This model proved successful in numerous communities. In Alpharetta, Georgia, a similar pattern of escalating investment unfolded. In 2020, the city’s police department paid $17,680 for five Falcon cameras and access to Flock’s "Wing" software, which is designed to extract vehicle and license plate data from various camera feeds. Subsequent purchases of Flock cameras were justified by noting that "several" local HOAs had already adopted Flock and granted access, making integration with the existing system a key factor in purchasing decisions. The justification explicitly stated a desire to "add more city cameras into the Flock system" and noted that "other vendors" would not integrate with their established Flock network. By 2025, Alpharetta’s annual expenditure on Flock Safety had surged to $381,000, illustrating the rapid expansion and increasing cost associated with these surveillance agreements.
Broader Implications and Community Concerns
The escalating costs and expanding capabilities of surveillance technology like that provided by Flock Safety are not unique to Covington or Alpharetta. WIRED’s investigation, which involved obtaining documents from a dozen Flock customers across the country and comparing them with publicly available information from more than a dozen others, sheds light on the financial realities and contractual structures governing these deals. The findings suggest that these contracts can expand significantly over several years, creating a perpetual financial obligation for taxpayers with no clear end in sight.
Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, commented on the persistent nature of these technological adoptions: "Once you let police officers try a tool, it becomes really hard to get the political will and motivation to take that tool away from them." This sentiment highlights a critical challenge in the procurement and deployment of advanced surveillance technologies. Once integrated into law enforcement operations, the perceived utility and established operational routines can create inertia, making it difficult for communities to reconsider or dismantle such systems, even in the face of growing privacy concerns or escalating costs.
While Flock Safety’s technology can contribute to investigations and public safety efforts, its widespread deployment raises significant privacy implications. The ability to track the movements of vast numbers of vehicles across a city or region, often without the direct knowledge or consent of the individuals being monitored, has fueled concerns among civil liberties advocates. The company has faced "fierce blowback" regarding its surveillance practices, leading to increased scrutiny of its contracts in cities across the United States.
The Covington Police Department’s budget for June 2025 to July 2026 stands at $12,488,733. While Flock Safety’s expenditures represent a fraction of this overall budget, the consistent and substantial year-over-year increases in spending on surveillance technology warrant careful consideration. The long-term financial commitments, coupled with the evolving nature of Flock’s offerings, including the integration of drone technology and advanced software, suggest that these costs are likely to continue to grow.
The lack of a response from the Covington Police Department to a request for comment, and Flock Safety’s decision not to provide a statement for this story, underscores the often-opaque nature of these public-private surveillance partnerships. As communities grapple with the balance between public safety and individual privacy, the growing financial investment in technologies like Flock Safety’s demands a more transparent and robust public discourse. Understanding the true cost, the scope of data collection, and the long-term implications of these surveillance systems is crucial for informed decision-making by both elected officials and the citizens they serve. The trajectory of spending in cities like Covington serves as a case study, illustrating the rapid expansion and escalating financial burden that can accompany the adoption of pervasive surveillance technologies.
