After a Flock device appeared on her lawn, Virginia woman wondered ‘who’s listening’
Kat Vaughn was walking her two children home from a park when she noticed an unfamiliar device installed in her lawn.
“We didn’t receive anything in the mail,” Vaughn told WSLS-TV in Roanoke, Virginia, where she lives. “I double checked to make sure that there was no emails or anything about it.”
After Vaughn called the Roanoke Police Department, an officer who came out was unsure of the device’s purpose, too. Then he climbed a ladder to take a closer look and discovered its developer: Flock Safety.
Best known for its AI-powered license plate reader cameras, Flock also produces a gunshot detector known as Raven. The company claims the device is able to “detect and locate gunshots in 60 seconds or less” through the use of microphones.
The officer told Vaughn the Roanoke City Council had approved 75 Raven installations in April, although they were not scheduled until July.
‘Human distress’
Vaughn said she felt nervous about being in her own home after learning the city had installed microphones in her yard.
“I don’t know who’s listening,” she told the television station. “We have kids in the yard behind us, or playing, they’re 3 years old and 4 years old, and they’re both neurodivergent, and they scream all the time. So, I’m like, how much of our conversations have been recorded that we just don’t know about?”
Police previously attempted to reassure residents that the gunshot detectors are not continuously recording and only become active after a gunshot. Residents were also told that conversations are not monitored, although Flock’s promotional material for Raven says that the device’s also monitor for signs of “human distress.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on civil liberties in the digital world, has called the technology “dangerous” and notes that a child was shot by Chicago police in 2024 after a gunshot detector from another company picked up the sound of fireworks.
Flock has said that its devices have improved public safety, claiming that police in Albany, New York, have uncovered 30% more gun crime since installing the devices.
Communities across the country have pushed back over the installation of Flock devices, reacting to a growing number of abuses linked to its products.
Unapproved installations
Vaughn eventually learned her address was not among the 75 locations approved for installation of Raven devices. After the television station contacted Roanoke officials, the city council paused all further installations.
An investigation by the city found that installation crews had been using a list of unapproved addresses. The gunshot detector has since been removed from Vaughn’s property.
The city determined that 30 of 41 devices installed so far were placed in unapproved locations. It remains unclear whether the city will move forward with the project once its investigation concludes.
Roanoke City Council member Nick Hagen, who voted against the installations, said the incident has caused even more concern regarding the technology.
“This raises a lot of questions, at least for me as a member of council, as to how in the world does this happen?” he asked. “Because any time that we pass ordinances, we kind of expect them to be followed as best they can.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
