The city of Roanoke says it will pause installations of Flock Safety’s Raven gunshot detector devices after 16 devices were mounted in incorrect locations.
On April 20, the Roanoke City Council approved encroachment permits for 75 Flock gunshot audio detector devices to be placed in locations throughout the city. According to a city press release, a citizen complaint led the city to find on June 18 that 16 devices were in locations not approved by the council.
“The city suspended all further installation activity and is working to ensure that all improperly installed sensors are removed and installation list discrepancies are addressed,” the release says. “No devices will be activated until the City is assured that they have been properly approved, permitted and installed.”
The city responded to questions sent on Tuesday, stating that a data entry error occurred when they compiled the installation list of 75 locations. The city said it did not pay installation costs, which were part of the vendor contract. The locations included seven in the southeast, seven in the northwest and two in the southwest, according to the city.
Police Chief Scott Booth also said in the release that the department is working to ensure the tool is “worthy of public trust.”
Addresses where Raven devices were incorrectly placed:
413 Salem Ave. SW
260 Williamson Road SE
614 3rd St. SE
701 3rd St. SE
507 Norfolk Ave. SW
484 4th St. SE
2418 Elm Ave. SE
807 Hunt Ave. NW
2910 Grange Ave. NW
101 9th St. NW
1012 Orange Ave. NW
2119 Grange Ave. NW
The city already has 37 Flock license plate reader cameras located throughout the city. The council’s 5-2 vote to approve the encroachment permits for the new audio detectors raised public concerns — multiple residents shared concerns surrounding privacy with the council before the vote. Councilmen Terry McGuire and Nick Hagen voted no on the permits, citing privacy concerns and inaccuracies with the tech in other localities after the meeting.
State Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, and Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke County, sent a letter to the city council June 10, copying the Salem City Council and the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, expressing “serious concerns” about the city’s planned expansion of Flock tech.
Utilizing these kinds of automated networks “shifts the nature of law enforcement from targeted policing to ongoing mass surveillance,” the letter reads. “This violates the basic privacy of our citizens.”
McNamara said in an interview that he has concerns about a “tremendous” amount of data being gathered on residents “just by driving down or walking down the road.”
“I don’t think it’s appropriate,” he said.
Councilman Phazhon Nash is supportive of the technology and said in a recent interview that he thinks a lot of the opposition has become political. He said Roanoke has seen no issues with how the license plate reader technology has been implemented and used.
During the April 20 council meeting, Nash said he’s heard from residents of Northwest Roanoke — where the vast majority of the audio detectors are planned to be located — who want further security in parks and public spaces.
Nash also said the detectors help first responders respond to gunshot wounds more quickly, as the tech provides a more accurate location than someone might who heard a gunshot and called 911.
Encroachment permits were part of procedures
During the April 20 meeting, the council voted to approve the encroachment permits for the project.
“Approving it today is just one step,” City Attorney Laura Carini said before the vote. “There’s many other steps for them to actually get installed.”
“And a contract has to be signed, right?” Mayor Joe Cobb asked the city attorney, to which she said yes. When asked by Cobb if the city could terminate the contract after a year, Carini said she would look into it.
Nash, in a recent interview, said that the city had contracts signed with Flock for the new technology since about November 2025.
He said what was discussed on April 20 was a “miscommunication on the dais.”
“That is a timeline error, I don’t know if the council members and staff were communicating in the best way on the dais that day,” he said.
Carini said in an interview on Tuesday that during the April 20 meeting, she was unsure when the contracts were signed, but found after the meeting that the contracts were signed in November 2025. She said she is unsure at this point if any further action was taken after the encroachment permits were approved or if that was the final step before installation of the devices.
“That’s one of the points of confusion,” Nash said in an interview, “is that it’s such a spread-out period of time.” He said the council accepted $57,000 in Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance funding, which the city used to pay for detectors, in March 2025.
Carini also said Tuesday that the city’s contract with Flock has a term of one year — which was a question raised during the April 20 meeting.
Cardinal News requested, through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, all contracts signed with Flock for the new audio technology. That information is due back to Cardinal News on June 25, via the Freedom of Information Act’s 5-working-day deadline for information returns.
The city did not respond on Tuesday to questions sent about the 16 devices that were installed incorrectly.
Cobb was not immediately able to be reached on Tuesday, after the release was sent regarding the pause on the project.
Nash said the mistake is “unfortunate,” but declined to comment further as he said the city is beginning an internal review process.
