Former Police Securi…

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vnlnc

On September 27, 2025

A company called Flock Safety is pitching a new turnkey aviation program for private enterprises to lease security drones formerly used by police departments. Part of the pitch is that these drones can track shoplifters as they flee the perimeter, with little fuss on the part of the business establishment. Our question is, will Walmart still insist on having clerks ask for receipts when leaving their store? Either way, these aren’t your typical consumer drones.

To be clear, Walmart is not associated with the program, at least not that we’re aware of. But if you’re like us, you’ve seen the contentious videos on TikTok and other social media platforms of customers getting into arguments with Walmart employees when asked to provide a receipt upon leaving.

The program, called Flock Aerodome Drone as Automated Security (DAS), puts the former police drones in the private sector for better visibility, especially at expansive facilities. According to Flock Safety, its drones can cover up to around a 3.5-mile radios with flight times of up to 45 minutes. To put it in context, DJI’s Matrice 400 drone for critical missions is rated for up to 59 minutes of flight time.

“Security leaders are being asked to protect more with less across bigger footprints, tighter budgets, and real staffing constraints,” said Rahul Sidhu, VP of Aviation at Flock Safety. “Flock Aerodome DAS gives them a ‘guard in the sky,’ putting eyes on the scene in seconds and turning blind alarms into informed action.”

The idea is that businesses can deploy a rapid response across big facilities such as warehouses, rail yards, hospital campuses, ports, malls, business parks, and so forth. Flock Safety says its drone system seamlessly integrates into common alarm panels, video management systems, and access control systems. The end result is the “responsiveness of a guard, the reach of a camera network, and the speed of automation” through flight.

“The drone follows the people. The people get in a car. You click a button, and you track the vehicle with the drone, and the drone just follows the car,” Keith Kauffman, a former police chief who directs Flock’s drone program, told MIT Technology Review.

Not without controversy, some are raising privacy concerns over Flock Security’s new program, which is in talks with some big retailers. Rebecca Williams, senior strategist for ACLU’s privacy and data governance unit, told MIT Technology Review that while this move is “a logical step” for Flock Security, it’s headed “in the wrong direction.”

This isn’t Flock Security’s only play. It also offers license plate readers, mobile security trailers, and video cameras with AI-powered analytics. Part of Williams’ concern is that Flock Security is able to amass and monetize a large amount of personal data, likening the firm to the “Meta of surveillance technology.”

According to Flock Safety, however, organized retail crime is high and on the rise. It cites a National Retail Federation report indicating retailers reported a 93% increase in the average number of shoplifting incidents in 2024. Flock Safety says its drone program can speed up response times and ultimate save establishments money.

Images courtesy of Flock Safety

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