Security tech company Flock Safety found its ultimate proof of product-market fit when a criminal on a podcast complained that 'those effing flockers' made crime too difficult. This demonstrates success in their core mission: making crime economically non-viable.

Unlike most countries with national police, the US has thousands of local agencies that historically could not share information effectively. This fragmentation is a major weakness that criminals exploit, creating a large opportunity for tech platforms that facilitate inter-agency data sharing.

People rarely steal cars just for fun; they're typically stolen to be used as disposable tools for more serious crimes like robberies or shootings. This makes tracking stolen vehicles a crucial chokepoint for disrupting broader criminal activity.

The NCIC, a key FBI database for warrants and stolen vehicles, is more like a daily CSV file than a real-time system. This lag, combined with a lack of data integrity protocols, means outdated information, like a recovered rental car still listed as stolen, persists and puts civilians at risk.

Contrary to popular belief, law enforcement in the U.S. fails to solve the majority of homicides. The national average clearance rate is only 40%. The situation is even worse for non-violent crimes like car theft, where offenders have an 85% chance of getting away with it entirely.

Flock Safety's corporate business has seen a distinct shift. Initially, clients wanted to stop theft. Now, the primary concern is employee safety, driven by fears of workplace violence from terminated employees. Their system automates alerts when a former employee's car appears on campus.

Instead of a human operator manually typing notes, Flock's system listens to 911 calls, uses AI to identify key details (like a suspect's shoes), and immediately queries connected camera systems for matches. This transforms an investigation, enabling arrests in minutes instead of weeks.

Maker Riley Walls revealed the technical secret behind his viral app that tracked SF parking officers in real time. The city's ticketing system used predictable, sequential ticket IDs. This common flaw in public databases allows anyone to systematically check for the 'next' entry, effectively creating a real-time feed from a system with no public API.

The data infrastructure for law enforcement is fragmented and archaic. Until recently, some major US cities ran on paper, and states even outlawed cloud storage. This creates massive data silos that hinder investigations, as criminal activity crosses jurisdictions that don't share data.