Suffolk County quietly strikes $4M deal with controversial surveillance company Flock Safety for gunshot detectors

Suffolk County quietly finalized a five-year, nearly $4 million deal for new gunshot detectors with controversial surveillance network Flock Safety — and AI-powered cameras could be next.Flock Safety’s technology will replace the ShotSpotter system, which the Long Island county has used for more than a decade to detect gunshots and notify first responders, officials confirmed to The Post.The new devices from Flock Safety — the same company behind the AI-powered license plate readers that can track a car’s every move based on dents, bumper stickers and roof racks — are expected to be fully installed, covering 23.5 square miles in Suffolk, by Sept.

6, the officials said.The switch from ShotSpotter will save the county about $800,000 per-year, according to Jed Painter, general counsel of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, who led the contract negotiations.“It’s a very good deal,” Painter told The Post. The contract does not include any controversial AI-powered Flock cameras, which critics have called a “Big Brother”-style surveillance system for local governments and have raised Fourth Amendment concerns nationwideBut that may change in the near future, according to Painter. “We did not negotiate anything with Automated License Plate Readers or cameras… yet,” said Painter.

Painter said he finds Flock’s tech “appealing,” and was adamant that more of the company’s devices and additional gunshot detectors could be on their way to the county.This includes not only floating the idea of installing the controversial cameras around the county, but also potentially upgrading to Flock’s “Raven” system.The “Raven” system can not only detect gunshots, but also listens for and reports car crashes, and even loud community disruptions, according to Painter.The county doesn’t currently operate any of the cameras itself — but multiple towns, villages, and even private housing communities around Long Island have formed t...