agenda documents.<\/a> <\/p>\nOne section reads, \u201cFlock shall own all rights to any data input into the Flock Services,\u201d and another notes that \u201cFlock reserves the right to create and market public indexes, analysis, or insights created from such data.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flock Safety has faced previous criticism from activists and groups over its automatic license plate readers, which law enforcement agencies across the country use to track vehicles.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, residents voiced mixed reactions when asked about the drone proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cKind of just depends,\u201d Nathaniel said, indicating he was undecided.<\/p>\n
Another resident, Sydney Flynn, was more direct: \u201cNot a fan,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
While Local 4 did not find anyone expressing strong support for the project during in-person interviews, comments on social media showed that some residents back the plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have nothing to hide, let them do a better job,\u201d one person wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s great,\u201d another commenter posted.<\/p>\n
To address privacy and data security concerns, Local 4 reached out to Flock Safety.<\/p>\n
They sent a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cFlock\u2019s Drone as a First Responder (DFR) program helps agencies respond to emergency calls more quickly and safely, with drones typically arriving on scene in about 90 seconds, often before officers. <\/p>\n
In practice, this allows departments to assess evolving incidents, track suspects without vehicle pursuits, search for missing persons, and provide real-time intelligence to improve decision-making.<\/p>\n
On data security: all video and flight data are encrypted in transit and at rest. <\/p>\n
Access is limited to authorized personnel at the Sheriff\u2019s Office, and all access is logged and auditable. Flock customers own all the data collected through the DFR system, including images, video, and metadata. <\/p>\n
Drone flight logs are publicly available via a dashboard designed to support transparency and accountability. Until a drone reaches the location of a call for service, its camera remains forward-facing to limit field of view and reduce potential privacy concerns.<\/p>\n
For questions about specific use cases, we would defer to the Oakland County Sheriff\u2019s Office. <\/p>\n
In general, DFR programs are used for defined emergency situations, such as 911 calls, active incidents, and missing persons, not for general surveillance. <\/p>\n
The system can also support other first responders, including fire departments responding to structure fires, major accidents, and water rescues.”<\/p>\n
Flock Safety Public Safety Manager <\/p>\n
Local 4 also reached out to the Oakland County Sheriff\u2019s Office regarding this program. They sent a response.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrones are used for responding to specific calls and incidents. We have a transparency dashboard where every drone as first responder flight is listed, what the call was for, and the route it took. <\/p>\n
We have a very specific privacy policy to protect the public from even accidental intrusion by requiring that the camera be turned up towards the sky as the drone returns to base after completing a call for service. <\/p>\n
We have been doing drones as first responders for over four years. Other agencies approached us about expanding our existing program and this is a pilot to examine that possibility and save taxpayers money and share resources. <\/p>\n
Drones are most often utilized for search and rescue being deployed multiple times per week looking for lost children or people in a mental health crisis.\u00a0“<\/p>\n
Steve Huber, PIO, Oakland County Sheriff’s Office<\/p>\n
Local 4 asked the sheriff\u2019s office for specific locations where the drones would operate. If the pilot is approved, those have not yet been determined.<\/p>\n
Oakland County Commissioners are expected to vote on the pilot on Wednesday at 6.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. \u2013 A proposed pilot program that would allow drones to assist the Oakland County Sheriff\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,904,145,144],"class_list":{"0":"post-256604","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-oakland","9":"tag-oakland-county","10":"tag-oakland-headlines","11":"tag-oakland-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}