Flock Safety, a U.S. surveillance technology company, offered employees voluntary buyouts on Friday as it faces contract cancellations, camera vandalism and backlash over its license-plate recognition systems. An internal email described the severance package as “generous” and said the company would offer it to a majority of eligible applicants [mashable.com][techcrunch.com]. People familiar with the plan told WIRED that Flock’s roughly 1,500 employees could view the buyouts as an alternative to layoffs. The company has lost or failed to renew contracts, while an advocacy group identified 93 city and county governments that cut ties with Flock in August. TechCrunch reported a separate count of 90 cities and said Florida and Texas planned to stop using the technology [slashdot.org][techcrunch.com]. Flock has raised about $1.2 billion in venture capital and expanded beyond license-plate readers into AI-powered investigative and surveillance software [slashdot.org]. Highlights: • Misuse allegations: The Washington Post identified 46 cases in August involving police officers accused of misusing Flock technology, including alleged surveillance of romantic partners or former partners [techcrunch.com] Perspectives: Flock Safety: The company’s internal announcement presented the buyouts as a voluntary program built around transparency, respect, choice and greater employee agency [mashable.com]. (Mashable) Flock employees: Some workers are demoralized by the ongoing backlash over the company’s license-plate recognition technology [techcrunch.com]. (TechCrunch) Anti-surveillance advocates: The advocacy group said roughly three times as many local governments dropped Flock in 2026 overall [slashdot.org]. (Slashdot) Sources: • Flock offers workers voluntary buyouts amid backlash - mashable.com • Customer-Losing Flock Now Offers Buyouts to Avoid Laying Off Employees - slashdot.org • Flock Offers Employees Buyouts as Customers Flee - reddit.com • Flock reportedly tries to shrink workforce with employee buyouts - techcrunch.com --- 📰 Story aggregated by Kagi News