Technology
Flock Safety reduces default vehicle photo retention period from 30 days to 7 days
Individual law enforcement agencies can still select custom storage durations and preserve data for active investigations.
The short version
- Flock Safety is shortening its default data retention period for automated license plate reader images from 30 days to seven days.
- The policy change applies to new default setups, while existing law enforcement customers will retain their current storage settings.
- Agencies maintain the ability to customize retention lengths or move data into long-term cold storage for active cases through a new Evidence Mode.
- Flock will mandate an auditing feature by the end of 2026 to flag unusual officer activity and automatically suspend access under set criteria.
Key facts
- Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley announced a reduction in the default and recommended license plate reader retention period from 30 days to seven days.[Jalopnik]
- According to Langley, 90% of searches conducted on Flock's system without a full license plate number occur within seven days of capture.[Jalopnik]
- Existing law enforcement customers will keep their current retention schedules rather than automatically shifting to the new seven-day standard.[Jalopnik]
- Individual jurisdictions retain the authority to set custom storage windows longer or shorter than the default.[Jalopnik]
- Flock introduced Evidence Mode to allow investigators to store specific image data in cold storage for ongoing cases.[Jalopnik]
- By the end of 2026, Flock will require police users to adopt Audit Assistance, which monitors for unusual officer activity and can suspend system access.[Jalopnik]
What remains uncertain
- It remains unspecified what specific criteria Flock or agencies will use to define abnormal officer behavior for system lockouts.[Jalopnik]