The Boulder Police Department’s surveillance data was searched by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection hundreds of times over the past year, according to analysis of records obtained from multiple municipal and county agencies by The Mix.
Our analysis of Flock Safety audit logs from May to July of 2025 found records of 252 instances where U.S. Border Protection, which works in conjunction with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), accessed and searched the Boulder Police records.
How CBP accessed the system is not indicated by the audit logs. The Boulder police department has not yet responded to our inquiry about the access indicated by the logs.
What is Flock Safety
Flock Safety was founded in 2017 by Garrett Langley, Matt Feury, and Paige Todd. Since 2017, Flock has developed automated license plate readers, traditional security cameras, gunshot detection systems, and AI-powered drones. They have built an AI-powered ecosystem that they claim helps solve crime. Their website states that their systems are in use by over 5,000 agencies in 49 states.
The main feature of the Flock Safety platform that has helped it grow so quickly is the ability for agencies to share access to their system with others across the country through Flock’s state and national databases. This allows agencies to easily search data from thousands of towns and cities using Flock systems for information.
Flock in Boulder
In 2022, Boulder Police signed a contract with Flock Safety. According to the last contract between BPD and Flock, there are a total of 30 Flock cameras deployed in the city.
A Colorado Open Records request accessed by The Mix found 252 searches of the BPD Flock system by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) between the months of May and July of 2025. Shortly following the release of these records, BPD removed their system from the national Flock network and announced on March 13 that they are taking bids for systems to potentially replace the Flock system.
Since May 23, 2025, Colorado law restricts agencies or individuals in state and local governments from sharing data or information with federal agencies for the purpose of Immigration Enforcement.
Langley stated in an interview with 9NEWS that Flock does not have any contracts with federal agencies. Just one month later, however, Flock stated in a press release that they had been carrying out pilot programs with ATF and CBP.
Pushback against Flock
The ACLU and other advocacy groups have strongly opposed Flock and any similar systems.
According to DeFlock, a crowdsourced website that maps Flock cameras across the globe, over 50 cities have rejected license plate reader systems by either ending contracts with companies like Flock or refusing to start them.
In an interview with Forbes, Langley said, “Unfortunately there’s terroristic organizations like DeFlock whos primary motivation is chaos.”
Flock in Louisville
Following the Marshall Fire in December of 2021, the City of Louisville signed a contract with Flock Safety to install cameras on major roads leading into neighborhoods affected by the fire. According to records from the city obtained by The Mix, they ended their contract with Flock in 2025.
Flock in Superior
On the other side of US Highway 36, The Mix spotted 12 Flock cameras in the Town of Superior this March.
After Open Records Requests conducted by The Mix, Town of Superior officials stated that they did not possess any records pertaining to the Flock system and advised that BCSO and Boulder County possess all records for the system.
In a statement to The Mix, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) Sergeant David Salaman said, “The Town of Superior signed the initial contract with Flock Safety as part of their public safety budget. The town had been paying Flock Safety for the services until recently when the Sheriff’s Office determined it would need to directly contract with Flock Safety to access their cameras in Superior.”
An Open Records Request with Boulder County returned a contract granting the Sheriff’s Office access to the Flock Platform without installing any cameras. No records pertaining to the Superior system were released in response to the requests, making it unclear who actually owns and is accessing the data on the 12 cameras in Superior.
Salaman stated that any photos collected by BCSO are not shared in the national database and that data from the system is shared only with agencies inside the state of Colorado.
Flock outside Boulder County
In February, Denver announced that they would replace their Flock system with a new license plate tracking system from body camera manufacturer Axon. According to Axon, their system has many of the same features as Flock’s except for the national database, with data sharing only possible on a 1:1 basis.
In July of 2025, Castle Rock signed a contract with Flock subsidiary Aerodome, which sells AI-powered autonomous drones that tightly integrate with the Flock ecosystem. According to the Aerodome transparency portal, their system has logged over 400 flights since then.
In October of 2025, security camera maker Ring announced a partnership with Flock to allow users to opt in to sharing data with local law enforcement through the Flock Platform. During the 2026 Super Bowl, Ring aired an ad showing their “search party” feature, allowing users to leverage any neighborhood cameras opted into the system to help locate lost dogs. Four days after the ad aired, on Feb. 12, Ring cancelled their partnership with Flock, citing technical limitations.
While municipalities move away from Flock Safety critics still question whether their surveillance is required in society.