Flock opens a voluntary exit window at double its usual severance
Flock Safety's severance offer is roughly double what it has paid before, and the company told staff it expects to approve most applicants. Anyone holding a contract with Flock now has a continuity question.
The Product Desk
What happened
- Flock Safety announced a voluntary employee separation program on Friday, offering what an internal email shared with WIRED called a "generous" severance package to anyone who wants to leave.
- In an internal announcement the company called the package the most generous it has ever offered, roughly double its previous severance, and said the program gives workers "greater agency."
- People familiar with the program told WIRED they believe a significant number of Flock's roughly 1,500 employees may try to depart.
- One advocacy group identified 93 city and county governments that cut ties with Flock in August alone.
- Flock, founded in 2017, raised money at a valuation of more than $8 billion in a funding round that closed in April.
Why it matters
- Who has to decide decision An agency with a Flock renewal this quarter is now judging whether the counterparty will still be staffed to service the deployment in a year, on top of the privacy review it already runs.
- What it limits constraint The contract-loss and revenue claims come from unnamed people and the company has not addressed them, so a procurement officer can put cancellation counts in a memo but not the vendor's finances.
- Who's exposed exposure Stored plate reads sit with a vendor that some employees expect might sell parts of itself, according to people familiar with the buyout. A sale would put those archives in a new owner's hands.
- What it sets up precedent A year of departures gives a council that is still deciding a long list of peers to cite.
Next story · Product · 2d ago
Flock has fired no police customer over license-plate abuse, its CEO saysConfirmed4 publishers
A voluntary program takes the choice of who leaves away from the employer. Flock told staff it expects to grant buyouts to the majority of people who apply [5], so the departure list gets set by whoever is most confident of finding another job. For a city with a live deployment, the risk is specific: the support engineer who knows how your camera network feeds your records system is the one with options. Applications close October 2 [4], acceptances go out October 9 [8], and most people who take the deal leave by October 29, though Flock may ask some to stay another one to three months [9]. That leaves 27 days between the deadline to decide and the date most leavers are gone [21].
Some employees have been offered sums in the range of tens of thousands of dollars, one person familiar with the program told WIRED [6]. The package also covers several months of health care and gives two years to exercise stock options, longer than Flock normally allows someone who resigns [7].
The cancellation side has numbers attached to it. WIRED reports that roughly three times as many local governments dropped Flock in 2026 as in the previous five years [23]. Spread that earlier total evenly and it averages a fifth of it per year, so a single year at three times the total runs about fifteen times the earlier annual pace [24].
The revenue side is thinner. Two people familiar with the business told WIRED that many contracts were dropped or not extended this year and that the company could fall short of its revenue goals [10], and one said that without buyouts Flock would almost certainly have had to lay people off [25]. Vandalism against the cameras has pushed expenses up unexpectedly [11]. Flock did not immediately respond to WIRED's requests for comment [12].
CEO Garrett Langley told the All-In podcast last month that "the biggest damage" from the backlash had been "internal morale" [13]. "Because you go on to X or you go on to Reddit and you go, why are people so mad at us when we've been doing the same thing for nine years?" Langley said [14]. WIRED has documented officers allegedly using Flock to track former romantic partners and colleagues, and has reported how widely some agencies share access to the system [15].
One of the people familiar with the severance plan told WIRED that "when you see enough of the vandalism" targeting Flock cameras this year, "you know the writing is the wall" that something has to change [18]. The same people said employees expect Flock to sell parts or all of its business to stay afloat, and that some may take the offer [26]. The company has raised about $1.2 billion in venture capital [20].
A buyer can handle this with two columns in a spreadsheet. First, the renewal date of every vendor holding records the agency cannot collect again. Second, the assignment and change-of-control language in each of those contracts, since the sale of a business line would test it. The pile of records keeps growing: WIRED reported last month that Flock built AI investigative software to identify drivers, find potential associates from patterns of movement, and search police records, and its analysis of the code found tools that continuously search camera feeds for people matching written descriptions [16][17].
What to watch
- Whether Flock says publicly how many of its roughly 1,500 staff applied for the buyout and which teams they came from.
- Whether the advocacy group's monthly tally of governments cutting ties keeps climbing through the autumn.
- Any sale of a Flock business line, and the terms under which stored plate reads would transfer to a buyer.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence60
- Adoption58
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives62
- Confidence61
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers- Builder
- Builder 13%
- Operator
- Operator 45%
- Investor
- Investor 42%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Flock Safety announced a voluntary employee separation program on Friday, offering a "generous" severance package to those who want to leave, according to an internal email shared with WIRED.
- [2]
People familiar with the program but not authorized to discuss it publicly say they believe a significant number of the startup's roughly 1,500 employees may try to depart.
- [3]
In an internal announcement, Flock described the package as the "most generous" ever offered by the company, roughly double its previous severance offers, and said the program provides "greater agency" and "treats employees with transparency, respect, and choice."
- [4]
Applications for Flock's voluntary severance program opened Friday, and employees have until October 2 to decide whether to leave the company.
- [5]
Flock expects to grant buyouts to the majority of workers who apply, according to the internal email.
- [6]
Some Flock employees have said they have received buyout offers in the range of tens of thousands of dollars, one person familiar with the program said.
- [7]
The package gives employees several months of health care coverage and the ability to exercise stock options within two years after separation, a longer period than the company typically offers resigning employees.
- [8]
Flock employees are expected to learn whether their applications were accepted on October 9, according to the internal email.
- [9]
Most accepted employees would leave the company by October 29, though in some cases Flock may ask employees to remain for another one to three months.
- [10]
Flock has had many of its contracts either not extended or dropped this year, which could leave it short of revenue goals, according to two people familiar with the matter.
- [11]
A wave of vandalism targeting Flock's cameras has unexpectedly increased the company's expenses.
- [12]
Flock did not immediately respond to WIRED's requests for comment.
- [13]
Flock CEO Garrett Langley said on the All-In podcast last month that "the biggest damage" caused by the backlash against the company had been "internal morale."
- [14]
"Because you go on to X or you go on to Reddit and you go, why are people so mad at us when we've been doing the same thing for nine years?" Langley said.
- [15]
In the last month WIRED has documented officers allegedly abusing Flock to track former romantic partners and colleagues, and exposed how widely some agencies share access to the system.
- [16]
WIRED reported last month that Flock has developed AI powered investigative software to identify drivers, find potential associates based on patterns of movement, and search across police records and other data.
- [17]
A WIRED analysis of Flock's software found tools designed to continuously search camera feeds for people matching written descriptions, and its analysis of Flock's code found potential integrations with drones and other surveillance systems.
- [18]
One person familiar with the severance plan said: "When you see enough of the vandalism" targeting Flock cameras this year, "you know the writing is the wall" that something has to change.
- [19]
Flock, founded in 2017, raised money at a valuation of more than $8 billion in a funding round that closed in April.
- [20]
Flock has raised about $1.2 billion in venture capital.
- [21]
There are 27 days between the October 2 application deadline and October 29, the date by which most accepted employees would leave.
- [22]
One advocacy group identified 93 city and county governments that cut ties with Flock in August alone.
- [23]
Overall in 2026, roughly three times as many local governments have dropped Flock compared to the previous five years.
- [24]
If the previous five years of Flock cancellations are spread evenly, 2026's rate of roughly three times that five-year total works out to about fifteen times the earlier annual average.
- [25]
Without buyouts, Flock almost certainly would have to lay off some staff, one person familiar with the matter believes.
- [26]
People familiar with Flock's severance plan told WIRED that some employees may take the offer amid speculation that the company might resort to selling off parts or all of its business to stay afloat.
Sources
3 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- mashable.comFlock offers workers voluntary buyouts amid backlash | Mashable
1 article · September 19, 2026
- techcrunch.comFlock reportedly tries to shrink workforce with employee buyouts
2 articles · September 19, 2026
- wired.comFlock Offers Employees Buyouts as Customers Flee
2 articles · September 18, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Automated License Plate Recognition
- Government Technology Procurement
- Voluntary buyouts and severance
- Commercial Surveillance Industry