Flock Safety offers voluntary buyouts as backlash hits employee morale

Flock Safety, the US company behind a nationwide network of license plate reader cameras, opened a voluntary separation program for its staff on Friday, September 18. An internal email reviewed by WIRED describes the severance package as the "most generous" the company has offered and says the program gives employees "greater agency." People familiar with the plan say a significant share of Flock's roughly 1,500 employees may choose to leave, and staff say the public backlash against the company has weighed on morale.

How the buyout works

Applications opened on Friday, and employees have until October 2 to decide. According to the email, Flock expects to approve the majority of applications; workers will learn whether they were accepted on October 9, and most departures are expected by October 29. In some cases the company may ask employees to stay for another one to three months. The package is roughly double Flock's previous severance offers, includes several months of health care coverage, and lets departing staff exercise stock options for up to two years. Some employees have received offers in the tens of thousands of dollars, one person familiar with the program said.

Customers are leaving

Flock has been losing customers as scrutiny of its cameras grows. In August, The Washington Post identified 46 cases in which police officers were accused of misusing Flock's technology, including allegations that officers tracked wives, girlfriends and exes. Florida and Texas have said they will stop using the company's cameras, and one advocacy group counted 93 city and county governments that cut ties with Flock in a single month. According to WIRED, roughly three times as many local governments dropped the company in 2026 as in the previous five years combined.

Pressure on the business

Flock was founded in 2017 and has raised about $1.2 billion in venture capital; a funding round that closed in April valued the company at more than $8 billion. Two people told WIRED that contract losses could leave it short of revenue goals, and that a wave of vandalism against its cameras has increased expenses. The same people say that without the buyouts the company would "almost certainly" have to lay off staff, and that some employees may accept the offer amid speculation that Flock could sell off parts or all of its business. CEO Garrett Langley said on the All-In podcast last month that the "biggest damage" caused by the backlash had been to "internal morale."