At TechCrunch Disrupt, Flock co-founder and CEO Garrett Langley defended the company’s Gunshot Detection audio product, saying its microphones detect “just gunshots.” Flock‘s public materials and spokesperson describe a wider capability set. The website says its audio systems can pinpoint gunfire instantly, detect street takeovers early, identify severe crashes in real time, and “expand awareness beyond gunfire with alerts for car crashes, fireworks, and sideshows.” An FAQ adds that the detection library is continually expanding to include emerging threats relevant to customers.

Langley said the product was built because most people do not call 911 when they hear a gunshot. After customers suggested it would be useful to get alerts for abductions or harm in parking lots, the company prototyped the idea and rolled it out to a couple of customers. He said he made mistakes but was listening to customers, and the company then told those customers the system would only do gunshots: “If a gun goes off, we’ll notify, and if not, that’s all it’s going to listen to.” Asked about the contradiction with marketing materials that say the audio systems detect more than gunshots, he answered, “It’s just gunshots.”

Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel told TechCrunch the technology is primarily used to detect gunfire but is also capable of detecting fireworks, sideshows, and potential car crashes. Lewbel said Langley’s remarks were intended to emphasize that Flock‘s Audio Detection technology is not designed to monitor conversations or analyze speech and does not currently detect human screaming or distress. The company’s original announcement had said it would listen for sounds of “screaming,” prompting privacy groups to condemn it; Flock later changed the website to “sounds of human distress,” then said it pulled the ability to detect distress from customers who tried it.

Langley pushed back against what he called misinformation from critics. His appearance came as protesters gathered outside the venue, and as scrutiny mounted: the ACLU has raised concerns, people have destroyed surveillance cameras, Texas and Florida have ended their relationships with Flock, and Amazon’s Ring has ended its partnership. Langley also said Flock‘s microphone count is comparable to ShotSpotter, which had about 25,000 microphones as of 2024, per Wired.