San Francisco, once notorious for car break-ins, has seen a dramatic decrease in major crimes, with statistics showing a 44% drop from 2023 to 2025. This turnaround, alongside similar improvements in other cities, highlights the potential of technological investment in public safety. The shift in mindset from crime being an "unsolvable problem" to one with tangible solutions is palpable.
This progress is largely attributed to the work of Flock Safety, a company founded by individuals frustrated with unsolved crime. While there's bipartisan agreement that crime is a problem, innovation in law enforcement has lagged, with many departments struggling with staffing and relying on outdated methods.
Flock Safety's core insight was identifying vehicles as a critical weak point in crime-solving. Traditional Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR) were prohibitively expensive and limited in scope. Flock developed a more cost-effective system using modern computer vision.
Their cameras capture not just license plates, but also vehicle make, model, and color, even for cars with obscured or missing plates. This detailed data provides law enforcement with crucial leads, turning vehicles into key pieces of evidence.
The company claims its technology helps solve around 700,000 crimes annually, including over 1,000 missing persons cases. Cities like Tulsa have seen unprecedented success, solving all homicide cases in 2024, and Lakewood, Washington, recorded zero homicides in 2025.