Search Safeguards: How Flock’s Search Filters Work

Compliance is a team sport, and at Flock, we believe that protecting communities includes respecting the laws that govern how technology can be used. As communities enact new laws and agencies refine policies governing LPR use, we’re committed to building safeguards that ensure compliance while enabling collaboration.

One way we’re doing this is through search filters, an automated, always-on layer of protection that helps agencies stay aligned with the law or agency policy.

Search Filters: Available Today for Agencies Nationwide

Now available to all Flock Safety law enforcement customers, search filters provide built-in guardrails within Flock’s search experience that prevent searches tied to LPR use cases prohibited by law or by agency policy. They serve as an added line of defense to help ensure the LPR platform will not be used in ways that conflict with state or local regulations or values.

Here’s how they work:

• Instant Detection: If a user attempts to search for reasons associated with immigration enforcement or reproductive care, the platform automatically prevents the search from including networks that have the filter on.
• Real-Time Safeguarding: Filtering happens instantly. The platform doesn’t process, store, or log any prohibited queries.
• Admin-Controlled Enablement: Because laws and policies differ across jurisdictions, agency admins can now enable search filters in the Flock system. In states with clear state laws prohibiting enforcement related to immigration and/or reproductive care, the filter is applied automatically.

Why We Introduced Search Filters

1. To Strengthen Compliance Automatically

Technology should make compliance easier, not harder. Search filters help agencies stay within the boundaries of the law or their own policies without placing additional training or administrative burden on staff.

2. To Support Transparent and Responsible Use

Communities expect clarity about how public safety technology can and cannot be used. Filters demonstrate to residents, oversight bodies, and policymakers that Flock not only encourages compliance but actively enables compliance.

3. To Adapt to a Rapidly Changing Legal Landscape

Across the U.S., new legislation continues to shape how LPR data can be used. Our filters will evolve with those laws. As states update regulations, we will update the filter rules, reducing risk for agencies and ensuring the technology stays aligned with legal expectations.

Compliance, Simplified

At Flock, we want to help solve crime ethically and transparently. Search filters are one of the many features that underscore that commitment: simple, automatic, and built to honor the laws and policies that protect people’s rights.

Compliance doesn’t need to be complicated. With intelligent safeguards built into the tools agencies use every day, responsible policing becomes easier and trust becomes stronger.