Feature: Cost Estimates
New feature: Explore the estimated costs of Flock's nationwide surveillance camera network, with interactive sliders and per-agency breakdowns.
A new report is now available: Cost Estimates.
Flock’s pricing, like the rest of the company, is opaque. Its contracts are generally not bid out, even when that violates policy. In instances where police bring a contract to a city council or a board for approval, the contract tends to only reflect base subscription fees; upgrades, maintenance, and addons are often added via later, unapproved contracts snuck in through consent agendas, or simply signed without authorization.
The company sells through both cooperative purchasing agreements and direct contracts, making it difficult for communities to understand how much they’re paying exactly for the privilege of being watched. To make matters worse, police often stonewall on open records requests for the contracts.
Those are the limitations. This report attempts to use transparency portal data, helpfully provided by Eyes on Flock, combined with available information from search logs to produce cost estimates at both the national and per-agency level.
This is not in the report, but I did a quick manual calculation based on what’s in the database: 121 unique organizations have performed 6,736 “FreeForm” searches in 2025. FreeForm MSRP is $50,000/year. Each FreeForm search costs a little under $900. Your tax dollars at work.
What’s available
Global report
The global cost estimates page provides interactive sliders for three variables:
- Number of cameras (80,000–300,000) — defaulting to the highest camera count observed in a search audit log (more information)
- Number of agencies (5,000–15,000) — defaulting to the total number of agencies ever seen in audit logs
- Cost per camera ($3,000–$10,000/year) — defaulting to $6,200
The report then calculates estimated monthly and annual costs, cost per search, cost per motor vehicle theft clearance, cost per AMBER Alert resolution, and the equivalent number of youth violence intervention program slots the same money could fund.
For agencies that have a Flock transparency portal, a new Costs tab is available on the agency page (alongside Audit Logs, Statistics, Insights, and Operators). This tab uses the agency’s own reported camera count and search volume—not slider estimates—to calculate costs specific to that agency.
If an agency’s portal does not report a camera count (some don’t), the tab will still display the search volume and note that cost estimates cannot be calculated.
Pricing sources
The base subscription cost for Flock’s standard LPR camera (formerly “Falcon”) is $5,000/year (up from $3,000/year). This is the minimum—it does not include more expensive models, add-ons, or services; for example:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Long Range / Tactical Deployment camera | $7,000–10,000/year |
| Advanced Search | $5,000/year |
| “FreeForm” search add-on | $50,000/year |
| 31 days – 1-year data retention | $600/camera/year |
| Trailer deployment | $50,000/year |
| Camera repositioning | $350–750 per move |
| Camera replacement (damaged/stolen) | $800 |
| Battery pack replacement | $750 |
And so on. Flock’s customers pay to maintain the hardware they don’t own. This variable cost is not factored into the $6,200/camera/year estimate.
An October 2025 price schedule from Omnia Partners is available. More recent versions may be available directly from Omnia.
Price Per Camera Analysis — New Price List vs. Contract Rates
This analysis was done on Riverside’s County, CA, contracts because it operates a mix of cameras with a few addons — although potentially not all of these are reflected are the contract.
Prices were then adjusted based on the MSRP reported by Omnia Partners as of October 2025.
Source documents are available for download.
What Riverside County Currently Has (from contracts)
From the Board submittals and amendments, the county’s full camera fleet as of the latest contracts:
| Contract | Camera Type | Qty | Contract Rate/Camera/Yr | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSA (10/31/2023) | Standard Falcon LPR | 538 | $2,500 | $1,345,000 |
| Amendment (01/13/2026) | Long-Range LPR (Falcon LR) | 170 | $4,400 | $748,000 |
| Total | 708 | $2,093,000 |
Plus $30,000/yr for Reinstall Hardware professional services.
New 2025 MSRP Price List Comparison
From the Flock price list (effective 10/21/2025):
| Product | MSRP | Riverside Contract Rate | Difference vs MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flock Safety Falcon (standard, LE) | $5,000 | $2,500 | -$2,500 (50% off) |
| Flock Safety Falcon LR (long-range, LE) | $10,000 | $4,400 | -$5,600 (56% off) |
The Board submittal (Snapshot-198147.pdf, p.4) explicitly confirms this for the LR cameras: the standard rate is $5,000/camera for long-range, but Riverside gets a discounted government rate of $4,400 — a $600/camera discount. However, the current MSRP is $10,000 for the Falcon LR, which is double what the Board submittal quotes as “standard rate.”
What the Cameras Would Cost at New Price List Rates
| Camera Type | Qty | MSRP/Camera | Total at MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Falcon (LE) | 538 | $5,000 | $2,690,000 |
| Falcon LR (LE) | 170 | $10,000 | $1,700,000 |
| Total | 708 | $4,390,000 |
Relevant Add-Ons & Additional Services from Price List
| Service | MSRP | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Professional Services - Standard Implementation Fee | $650/camera | One-time; Riverside got $0 for existing infrastructure |
| Professional Services - Advanced Implementation Fee (Falcon LR) | $1,000/camera | One-time; Riverside got $0 (waived) |
| Professional Services - Reinstall Hardware | Per-event | Riverside pays $30,000/yr credit |
| Camera Replacement (if damaged/stolen) | $800 | One-time per event |
| Flock LTE Connectivity | $960/camera | Unclear if bundled or separate in Riverside’s contract |
| Extended Data Retention (Up to 1 Year) | $600/camera | Optional add-on |
| Flock Safety Advanced Search | $5,000 | Optional LE upgrade |
| Solar Power Boost | $1,000/camera | For low-sun areas |
| Relocation Fee (existing pole, non-AC) | $350 | Per event |
| Relocation Fee (Flock pole/AC powered) | $750 | Per event |
Summary: Actual Average Price Per Camera
At Riverside’s contracted rates:
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual subscription (708 cameras) | $2,093,000 |
| Reinstall Hardware services | $30,000 |
| Total annual cost | $2,123,000 |
| Average per camera (subscription only) | $2,955.37/yr |
| Average per camera (with reinstall services) | $2,997.74/yr |
| 10% contingency (if applied) | +$155,600/yr on the LR portion |
At new price list MSRP (for comparison):
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total annual MSRP (708 cameras) | $4,390,000 |
| Average per camera at MSRP | $6,200.56/yr |
Comparison metrics
To put the costs in perspective, the report includes several comparison points:
Motor vehicle theft clearances
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer reports 63,017 motor vehicle theft clearances in 2025.
This is the total number of cases cleared, not the number of thefts, not the number of arrests, simply the number of cases closed for any reason. It does not reflect the number of clearances that are attributable to ALPR technology.
At a glance, there does not appear to be a correlation between clearances and the number of Flock cameras installed.
AMBER Alerts
NCMEC and the U.S. Department of Justice report 122 resolved AMBER Alert cases in 2024.
Youth violence intervention
A 2010 University of Chicago Crime Lab study of the Becoming a Man (BAM) counseling program found a 44% decrease in violent crime arrests among participants, at a cost of $1,100 per participant (approximately $1,651 adjusted for inflation), with estimated societal benefits of $3,600–$34,000 per participant.
That study has since been repeatedly replicated and validated. I encourage you to read more about the Youth Guidance’s Becoming a Man on the University of Chicago website.
Caveats
- Camera counts are self-reported by Flock’s transparency portals as “LPR and other cameras.” Flock does not explain what that means. Some agencies opted not to report camera counts at all.
- Search volumes are rolling 30-day windows, not monthly totals. They reflect whatever the portal reported at the time of the last snapshot.
- The $5,000 default is an estimate. Actual per-camera costs vary by contract, camera model, add-ons, and so on. Some agencies pay less, others pay significantly more.
- Clearance rates are not attribution. The FBI’s clearance data counts all motor vehicle theft clearances, regardless of the investigative method used, or the case outcome. There is no public data on what fraction of clearances involved ALPR technology.
- Portal matching is heuristic. For some agencies, the system matches transparency portal data to organizations using name and location heuristics. If multiple portals match, you’ll be asked to select the correct one. Reach out if this causes issues.
Data sources
- Camera counts and search volumes: Eyes on Flock
- Pricing: Omnia price schedule
- Motor vehicle theft clearances: FBI Crime Data Explorer
- AMBER Alert statistics: NCMEC, DOJ
- Youth violence intervention: University of Chicago Crime Lab