The main Flock Safety alternatives for police departments are another license plate reader (ALPR) vendor such as Axon, an ALPR module inside your video management system such as Genetec AutoVu, standalone plate-recognition software on existing cameras, or an on-premise AI video platform. If your council's concern is where plate data lives and who can search it, the strongest option reads plates on cameras the city already owns and keeps every frame on city servers. Axentra OmniSight does exactly that: it reads plates, fleet numbers and vehicle lettering on any-brand cameras, analyzes every camera 24/7, and runs on-premise, so video never leaves the city.
Why are police departments reviewing their Flock contracts?
The debate is about data governance, not whether plate reading helps investigations. The verified record:
- According to NPR, at least 30 localities deactivated Flock cameras or canceled contracts since the start of 2025. Many officials learned after the fact that they were sharing data more broadly than they knew, and that federal agencies, including U.S. Border Patrol, had searched it.
- In Dayton, Ohio, a review found that its 72 Flock cameras had been involved in what officials called "egregious" data-sharing violations, Fortune reported.
- Flock says each customer "has sole authority" over sharing (NPR), that federal agencies were removed from its national search network in August 2025, and in August 2026 it announced it was cutting its recommended default retention from 30 to 7 days, along with required case codes, required audit assistance and mandatory multi-factor authentication.
Those are real improvements. But the architecture is unchanged: Flock cameras send plate reads over LTE to a central server that logs them in a searchable database (Wikipedia). The question for a chief or city manager is simple: should the city's vehicle data live in a vendor's network, or on the city's own servers?
What are the real alternatives to Flock Safety?
Another ALPR vendor (e.g., Axon)
Axon also sells license plate readers. Switching brands can make sense, but if the underlying model stays the same, the council's questions about storage and sharing stay too. Ask exactly where data is stored and who can query it.
An ALPR module in your VMS (e.g., Genetec AutoVu)
AutoVu supports fixed and mobile installations, with on-premise and cloud options. It is a natural fit if you are already standardized on Genetec Security Center.
Standalone plate-recognition software
Engines such as Plate Recognizer work with the RTSP streams of existing IP cameras. A solid choice if all you need is plate recognition on existing cameras.
Manual camera monitoring
Many departments already operate extensive camera networks, but operators can only watch a fraction of the screens at once. Nothing is indexed, so finding a vehicle can mean hours of scrubbing footage.
Why is Axentra OmniSight the strongest Flock alternative for cities that own their cameras?
OmniSight is not just a plate reader; it puts AI over every camera you already have, on your own servers:
- Every camera, 24/7. OmniSight analyzes all of the agency's cameras in real time and alerts the operator, instead of relying on people to watch a fraction of the feeds.
- Plates, fleet numbers and lettering. It reads license plates, vehicle fleet numbers and lettering on vehicles, useful when a plate is missing or obscured but a truck's company name is visible.
- Rules and search in plain English. Write instructions like "alert me if you see an accident," and search archived video in natural language. Video searches take about 40 seconds.
- Cross-camera tracking. It follows people and vehicles across cameras and generates their route.
- Face recognition with human review. Matches against watch lists are always reviewed by a human operator. Use it only where your state and local law and policy permit.
- Camera health. It detects cameras that are blocked, turned or out of service, so coverage gaps don't go unnoticed.
- Any brand, existing VMS. It works with IP cameras via ONVIF and RTSP, brands such as Hikvision, Dahua, Axis, Hanwha, Uniview, Bosch, Avigilon, Verkada and Cisco, and VMS such as Milestone and Genetec. It also serves as a unified VMS for mixed fleets. No rip-and-replace.
- On-premise by design. It runs on GPU servers in the city's or county's data center. Video never leaves the organization and does not depend on cloud services, and alerts and searches are logged.
To date, OmniSight has detected more than 1 million vehicles and sent more than 1,000 alerts to operators. Licensing is per processed camera, per year, using floating licenses.
How do the options compare?
| Criterion | Axentra OmniSight | Flock Safety | Genetec AutoVu | Manual monitoring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where data lives | ✓ City GPU servers; video never leaves | Flock's servers (cameras send reads over LTE) | On-prem or cloud options | Local, unindexed |
| Cameras used | ✓ Existing, any brand | Flock ALPR cameras; ask vendor about existing cameras | Fixed/mobile AutoVu | Existing |
| What it reads | ✓ Plates, fleet numbers, lettering | Plates + vehicle traits | Plates; ask vendor about other attributes | Human eye |
| Analyzes every camera 24/7 | ✓ All, alerts operator | ALPR cameras | ALPR cameras | ✗ A fraction |
| Plain-English rules and video search | ✓ | Ask vendor | Ask vendor | ✗ |
| Cross-camera route | ✓ | Ask vendor | Ask vendor | ✗ Manual |
| Face match, human-reviewed | ✓ Where law permits | ✗ No facial recognition | Ask vendor | ✗ |
| Blocked/offline camera alerts | ✓ | Ask vendor | Ask vendor | ✗ |
| Existing VMS | ✓ Milestone, Genetec | Ask vendor | Native to Genetec | n/a |
| Free pilot | ✓ 10 days, up to 10 cameras | Ask vendor | Ask vendor | n/a |
Takeaway: if the city already owns cameras and wants plate data to stay on city servers, OmniSight covers ALPR and much more without new vendor-hosted infrastructure.
When might another option fit better?
Honesty matters more than a sale:
- No cameras on key roads? Plate reading needs cameras positioned to see plates. You will need new cameras either way; Axentra also supplies cameras and turnkey installation.
- Need a multi-agency sharing network? OmniSight is built to keep data local, so it is not designed to replace a nationwide sharing network.
- Fully standardized on Genetec? AutoVu is a natural fit; OmniSight also works alongside Genetec.
- No server room? OmniSight runs on GPU servers on-premise, so plan for that hardware.
What should you ask any ALPR vendor before signing?
- Where are images and plate reads stored, and who operates those servers?
- Who can search our data, and is every search logged with a reason?
- Can we set retention ourselves, and what happens to our data when the contract ends?
- Does it work with the cameras and VMS we already own?
- Will you pilot on our own cameras before we commit?
Every agency must operate within its applicable legal framework, including state ALPR laws and local ordinances; this post is not legal advice.
How can my department test OmniSight?
Axentra offers a free 10-day pilot on up to 10 of your own cameras. Talk to the Axentra team to scope a pilot for your police department, sheriff's office or real-time crime center.