Can a camera on every corner make us safer? | Garrett Langley
Garrett Langley founded Flock because he believed it was too easy to get away with crime in the US. His solution? A network of license plate readers, cameras, drones and audio sensors that has changed how police departments investigate crime — and raised urgent questions about safety, surveillance and privacy. In this talk, Langley explains why he thinks this tech makes the world safer, and addresses the controversy around it. (Followed by a Q&A with TED Chairman Chris Anderson and a note from TED guest curator Bilawal Sidhu)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Plan to Make American Crime Obsolete
David Ulevitch speaks with Col. Jeffrey Glover and Rahul Sidhu about how AI, drones, and sensor networks are reshaping public safety and what it takes to bring new technology into law enforcement at scale. As departments face staffing shortages, burnout, and rising complexity, they examine how the right tools can make officers more effective, safer, and better supported.
The conversation covers how drone-as-first-responder programs are changing the speed and safety of emergency response, from high-risk warrant service to Amber Alert pursuits. Glover describes how Arizona DPS is building a full technology ecosystem around its officers, including body-worn camera analytics for burnout detection, brain scan wellness checks, and international intelligence-sharing partnerships ahead of FIFA and the Olympics. Sidhu explains how Flock Safety's layered sensor network — license plate readers, gunshot detection, and drone dispatch — is turning reactive policing into proactive, data-driven response.
They also discuss what founders get wrong when building for law enforcement, why spending time on the beat matters more than any product spec, and how the next decade will fundamentally change the skills required to be a police officer in America.
Resources:
Follow Col. Jeffrey Glover on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-glover-mpa-83310416/
Follow Rahul on X: https://x.com/rahul
Follow David on X: https://x.com/davidu
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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What It Takes to Clear a Million Crimes a Year with Flock Safety's CEO
In this episode, previously aired on Cheeky Pint, Garrett Langley describes how a stolen gun in his Atlanta neighborhood led him to build Flock Safety, now deployed in more than 6,000 cities and involved in clearing over a million crimes last year. He covers how the product has evolved from license plate cameras to drones, real-time 911 integration, and an AI-powered orchestration layer for city safety.
Resources:
Follow Garrett Langley on X: https://twitter.com/glangley
Follow John Collison on X: https://twitter.com/collision
Listen to Cheeky Pint: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcoWp8pBTM3BxiPMHCj0YJ4wvGbUOYZIG
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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The Crime Crisis In America and How Technology Fixes It
What if America tried to eliminate crime instead of just reacting to it? Not with slogans, but with staffing, technology, and strategy scaled to the problem.
In this episode, Erik Torenberg speaks with Garrett Langley, founder and CEO of Flock Safety, and Ben Horowitz, cofounder of a16z, about what is happening in the cities that are trying. Flock now works with over 5,000 communities to detect crime, recover missing children, and close cases faster than ever. Ben has been closely involved in Las Vegas, where Flock technology, drones, and community policing have raised clearance rates while reducing use of force.
They outline what a real national crime-reduction strategy could look like: solving the police staffing crisis, using intelligence to make policing safer, understanding why clearance rates have collapsed, and how public–private partnerships are filling gaps cities cannot. They also tackle the hard questions around privacy, criminal justice failures, and the hidden role of organized crime in everyday offenses.
Timecodes:
0:00 — Introduction and the Cost of Crime
1:09 — Technology, Privacy, and Trust in Policing
1:22 — Eliminating Crime: A National Strategy
2:54 — People: Staffing, Culture, and Recruitment
8:45 — Products: Technology in Modern Policing
9:41 — Policy: Accountability and Prosecution
20:11 — Community Policing and Clearance Rates
25:16 — Case Study: Las Vegas and Public-Private Partnerships
32:00 — Criticisms, Privacy, and Trust
35:23 — Economic Mobility, Safety, and Social Impact
36:44 — Reform, Recidivism, and Alternative Approaches
52:14 — Organized Crime and Policy Challenges
54:32 — The Future of Policing: Intelligence and Precision
57:24 — Success Stories and Conclusion
Resources:
Follow Garrett on X: https://twitter.com/glangley
Follow Ben on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz
Stay Updated:
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details, please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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Govtech + Drones Crash Course, Lessons From 2 Exits | Rahul Sidhu
Rahul Sidhu is the co-founder of SPIDRTech and Aerodome, two companies in the public safety space.
He’s sold both of them, and our conversation unpacks all the lessons he learned, what he did differently with his second company Aerodome, and why he sold only 17 months after starting it.
If you tuned into last week’s episode, Paul told us to never talk to the cops. Rahul gives us the other side of the story, sharing his playbook for selling to police, the government, how he met Nikita Bier in high school, and why he’s still bullish on drones, robotics, and AI in the physical world.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(04:07) What its like testifying to Congress
(08:06) Why 90% of what he knew about police was wrong
(13:15) How to sell to police departments
(15:24) His first business selling WoW accounts
(19:00) Meeting Nikita Bier in high school
(21:29) Starting SPIDRTech to improve police + community relationships
(27:45) Two biggest mistakes building SPIDR
(31:47) How startups break down when scaling
(34:19) Selling SPIDR instead of raising a Series B
(40:12) Why Aerodome was so much easier to start
(42:55) Why Rahul loves unsexy markets with founder market fit
(46:03) Starting Aerodome, drones as first responders
(53:39) Building a capital efficient hardware startup
(56:46) How regulatory changes made an opening for Aerodome
(01:00:13) Inside Aerodome’s Series A
(01:03:57) Selling Aerodome to Flock Safety within 17 months
(01:09:31) Saying “would I work for this team?” when getting acquired
(01:14:35) Seeing a homeless guy in an Aerodome shirt
(01:17:02) The massive Robotics + AI opportunity this decade
(01:21:42) What’s really happening with drones in New Jersey
Referenced:
SPIDRTech: https://www.spidrtech.com
Aerodome: https://www.aerodome.com/
Nikita Bier’s Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9QTVII_lkg
Follow Rahul:
Twitter: https://x.com/rahoolsidoo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulsidhu/
Follow Turner:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovak
Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/
EP 99: Garret Langley (CEO, Flock Safety) - The $4B Tech Startup Solving Crime with AI
Garrett Langley is the CEO of Flock Safety, a $4B company helping solve 10% of US crimes with AI-powered tech. Garrett offers an in-depth look into Flock Safety’s ambitious vision to eliminate crime in America and all the operating lessons he’s learned along the way, including how to build a strong and motivated team, keep people accountable, and leverage PR for rapid growth.
(00:00) Intro
(01:03) The Mission to Eliminate Crime with Innovative Tech
(01:54) The Genesis of Flock Safety: A Response to High Crime Rates
(07:48) The Evolution of Flock Safety's Crime-Fighting Technology
(24:37) Impact Stories: How Flock Safety is Changing Lives
(31:00) Navigating the Balance: Safety, Privacy, and Community Impact
(36:58) Exploring the Universal Appeal of Safety Across America
(37:38) The Role of Community Decisions in Public Safety
(39:02) Addressing Misinformation and Enhancing Safety with Technology
(39:58) Collaboration and Data Sharing Among Cities
(41:26) The Impact of Technology on Policing and Public Safety
(43:24) Innovative Solutions to Modern Policing Challenges
(49:18) Flock's Vision for the Future of Public Safety
(56:05) Building a Business on Solving Crime
(56:38) The Importance of Team and Culture in Business Success
(01:10:45) Navigating Growth and Maintaining Culture in a Scaling Company
(01:12:33) Cultivating a Strong Remote Work Culture
(01:12:46) The Power of Cultural Norms in Business
(01:13:01) Building Accountability and Responsiveness
(01:14:16) The Importance of In-Person Interactions in a Hybrid Company
(01:14:50) Assessing Substantive Work Over Managing Up
(01:17:50) The Strategy of Being a Macro Optimist and Micro Pessimist
(01:20:16) Celebrating Milestones and Focusing on Impact
(01:21:58) The Unique Dynamic of Working with Family
(01:30:42) Reflections on Early Success and the Drive to Build Meaningful Companies
(01:37:58) Overcoming Fundraising Challenges and Understanding Market Dynamics
(01:46:55) Concluding Thoughts and the Future of Flock Safety
Executive Producer: Rashad Assir
Producer: Leah Clapper
Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky
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About the Show
Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode of The Logan Bartlett Show, we sit down with the people behind today’s most important startups and extract the tactics, lessons, and frameworks they’ve learned the hard way. Conversations span hiring to GTM, product, growth, fundraising and everything in between - collectively forming the ultimate playbook to make you a better CEO, investor or board member.
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The future of public safety via rapid drone response with Aerodome's Rahul Sidhu | E1900
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Todays show:
Rahul Sidhu from Aerodome joins Jason to discuss how his startup is creating the future of public safety air support with an automated drone system. The two dive into privacy concerns and abuse potential for police drones (14:41), challenges of fundraising and selling to the government (34:22), the founding incident of Aerodome (38:46), and much more!
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Timestamps:
(0:00) Rahul Sidhu from Aerodome joins Jason
(3:44) How the Aerodome drone system works to respond to 911 calls
(13:17) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at http://www.openphone.com/twist
(14:41) Privacy concerns and abuse potential with police drone usage
(19:43) FAA regulations, geofencing, and obstacle avoidance for drones
(25:16) Pricing and business model
(28:08) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at http://www.vanta.com/twist
(29:00) Object tracking and combining technologies
(34:22) The challenges of fundraising and selling to government as a startup, but increased venture interest in public safety tech
(37:31) Imagine AI LIVE - Get 20% off tickets at http://imagineai.live/twist
(38:46) Starting Aerodome during the pandemic and protests in 2020. Finding a moderate voice through the All-In podcast
(45:57) The importance of intellectual honesty, steel-manning arguments, and not being married to a single solution as a leader
(47:46) Potential future capabilities and focus on de-escalation
*
Check out Aerodome:
https://www.aerodome.com
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Follow Rahul
X: https://twitter.com/rahoolsidoo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulsidhu
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Thank you to our partners:
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Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
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Drones, Data, and Deterrence: Technology's Role in Public Safety
Flock is a public safety technology platform that operates in over 4,000 cities across the United States, and solves about 2,200 crimes daily. That’s 10 percent of reported crimes nationwide.
Taken from a16z’s recent LP Summit, a16z General Partner David Ulevitch joins forces with Flock Safety’s founder, Garrett Langley and Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Together, they cover the delicate balance between using technology to combat crime and respecting individual privacy, and explore the use of drones and facial recognition, building trust within communities, and the essence of objective policing.
Resources:
Find Garret on Twitter: https://twitter.com/glangley
Find Sheriff McMahill on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sheriff_LVMPD
Find David on Twitter:https://twitter.com/davidu
Learn more about Flock Safety: https://www.flocksafety.com
Stay Updated:
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Stay Updated:
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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Founder & CEO Flock Safety, Garrett Langley: Tech That Makes Everyone Safer
In April, a young girl was kidnapped and sexually assaulted in Yakima, Wash., and later told police she was picked up by a stranger in a car. The case might have gone cold there, if Yakima hadn’t just installed Flock Safety cameras: The cameras were able to pinpoint a car matching the girl’s description, and picked up the alleged abductor outside an elementary school campus, says Flock CEO Garrett Langley, who says stories like this have validated his company’s mission of stopping crime in our communities.
In this episode, Garrett and Joubin discuss a “huge life hack” that Garrett recommends to every CEO with young kids, quarter-life crises and how to rediscover your purpose, the biggest problem in public safety, how Flock Safety is solving thousands of crimes every year, the politics of surveillance camera placement, how Flock cameras became a feature of political campaigns, and how the company almost went out of business before its Series B.
In this episode, we cover:
Why Garrett’s executive assistant is his mother (02:06)
“I had no idea that people started companies” (13:07)
Garrett’s quarter-life crisis after two great startup exits (16:59)
How Flock Safety helps law enforcement make communities safer (23:49)
Solving a child abduction in Washington state (27:27)
Why Garrett and his co-founders started Flock (31:22)
The impact of Flock cameras on communities that don’t trust the police (36:35)
Political controversies and community engagement (39:18)
Making cities safer and talent drain from local police departments (47:11)
The challenges of fundraising for a police-tech startup in Atlanta (53:42)
“Protect the whole community” (01:00:12)
The public markets downturn (01:03:33)
Links:
Connect with GarrettTwitter
LinkedIn
Connect with JoubinTwitter
LinkedIn
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm
Bezos goes to space, Robinhood IPO, USDC attestation + Flock Safety’s Garrett Langley | E1249
In news Jason covers Bezos reaching space (2:32), Robinhood's S-1/A (13:28), Circle's new USDC attestation (22:25), crypto crackdown in Asia (36:06), Zoom buying Five9 for almost $15B (46:00)
Keith Rabois' OpenStore (47:11). Then for our Next Unicorns series, Jason interviews Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langely, about reducing crime in American cities and neighborhoods (50:18).
SaaStr 434: How to Build out a Sales Organization from 0 reps to 100 in 18 months with Flock Safety
In this episode of the SaaStr podcast, Garrett Langley, CEO @ Flock Safety and Alex Latraverse, VP Growth @ Flock Safety discuss How to Build out a Sales Organization from 0 reps to ~100 in 18 months.
Video + blog post: https://www.saastr.com/building-a-sales-organization-from-0-to-100-with-flock-safety/
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