Charleston-area police departments review Flock camera changes as they consider own policies. Alan Hovorka and Maddy Quon Updated Sun, August 16, 2026 at 2:00 AM PDT * Flock Safety cameras have prompted law enforcement agencies to reevaluate their use of surveillance technology following instances of misuse, leading to policy adjustments and increased scrutiny. CHARLESTON - A private surveillance company's decision to rein in police use of its systems has prompted local law enforcement agencies to reevaluate their own approaches to the technology, although they have not specified what might be considered. Used around the country, Flock Safety cameras and similar technology are meant to help law enforcement solve crimes or track down missing people. But critics say the technology allows an invasion of privacy that amounts to a nationwide mass surveillance system that has been abused at times. Several law enforcement officers, including in the Upstate, were fired recently upon the discovery they were using Flock cameras to stalk romantic partners. In response, the company made some adjustments to curb the misuse and protect privacy. Lowcountry police spokespeople said their agencies are reviewing their policies in an effort to ensure public trust. Despite the surveillance company making these changes, not everyone is satisfied. Paul Bowers, director of communications at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement that Flock executives are "panicking in response to a public relations crisis," but these policy tweaks won't make the problem go away. "The threats posed by warrantless mass surveillance dragnets are real and current, not hypothetical," Bowers said. "No matter your race, political beliefs or criminal record, your privacy is being violated just for driving on public roads... everyone's privacy is under threat as long as we let companies like Flock run roughshod over our rights." After a Washington Post investigation revealed that some police officers used Flock cameras to run searches on people not connected to investigations - including instances of stalking and harassing exes - Flock Safety shared on Aug. 13 that the company will roll out new and more restrictive features to crack down on the misuse. Some of those abuses have manifested in South Carolina. An officer in Mauldin was fired earlier this month after she used Flock cameras to track a former significant other 166 times between March and July. The former officer, Ellie Hammond, is the fifth Greenville County law enforcement officer to be fired over misuse of the technology in recent months, The Post and Courier Greenville reported. Some of the Flock updates include changing the data retention default to seven days instead of 30; requiring a search and case code tied to an investigation for each vehicle searched; and requiring the use of Audit Assistance, which detects abnormal activity such as an officer searching for the same license plate repeatedly. The system flags those situations for administrator review. The company will also publish an easy-to-read explanation next week of its contract, clarifying how customers own the data captured by Flock cameras. The Charleston County Sheriff's Office is among agencies that already voluntarily implemented Flock's Audit Assistance when it launched earlier this year, according to Lexi Douglas, a spokesperson for the agency. The department is reviewing the surveillance company's policy and technical updates before deciding what to do next, she said. Douglas said the sheriff's office follows best practices when using the company's cameras and participates in one of the company's transparency portals that discloses the volume of searches and other information. The College of Charleston Department of Public Safety also participates in the company's transparency program. Similarly, spokespeople for the Charleston Police Department, North Charleston Police Department and Mount Pleasant Police Department said their agencies are reviewing Flock's updates. "We consistently review our policies and will make revisions when deemed appropriate, such as when our Real-Time Crime Center/Joint Operations Center comes online in the near future," said Lt. Anthony King, a public information officer for North Charleston police. In May, North Charleston police added about 100 additional cameras from a Flock competitor, Verkada. The cameras brought online this spring have been part of a four-year project in that city to deter crime and solve cases more quickly, The Post and Courier reported at the time. North Charleston police placed Verkada cameras at 170 locations based on crime density statistics, King said previously. A draft of North Charleston's policy called for footage to be retained for 180 days before deletion, the newspaper previously reported. In Mount Pleasant, the town's police department conducts monthly audits of Flock and other surveillance systems to "ensure proper use of technology and prevent/identify misuse," public information officer Brad Franko wrote in an email to The Post and Courier. The police department has 23 cameras installed throughout the town. "Our efforts and use of any law enforcement tool are focused on keeping the public safe and solving crimes," Franko wrote. In Charleston, the city relies on a network of city-installed and residential cameras. A program introduced in March 2025 encourages residents to provide police access to their security cameras. Connect Charleston has so far integrated nearly 600 cameras into the city's surveillance system. Another 300 cameras have been registered by businesses and residents. The city's program is done in cooperation with body camera and Taser company Axon. Registration lets police know the camera exists. Integration allows officers to access a live feed during an active investigation, according to a press release. Litigation over the legality of mass surveillance systems, such as Flock, reached the state's appellate courts earlier this year. In May, a circuit judge ruled in favor of the State Law Enforcement Division, granting the agency summary judgment to dismiss a case that challenged the constitutionality of a program that collected 400 million time-stamped and geo-located license plates.

Is your physical security system doing enough to protect your business? What your cameras, door access, alerts, and technical support should help your team do. Having security cameras and controlled doors does not automatically mean your business is protected as well as it could be. The real test is whether your team can identify unusual activity, find the right footage, control who can enter, and respond without searching through several systems or calling multiple vendors. A well-planned physical security system should make those responsibilities easier. It should help your team: * Find footage without reviewing hours of video * Alert the right person when defined activity occurs * Connect door-access records with related video * Manage multiple cameras and locations * Control who can view footage or change permissions * Know who is responsible when something fails Links Technology works with Verkada to help businesses create that kind of coordinated setup. Verkada provides the platform for cameras, access control, alerts, and management. Links provides the local assessment, installation, networking, configuration, and ongoing technical support behind it. Can your team Find the right footage when it matters? Recording video is only the beginning. The footage is useful only if someone can find and review it when needed. Many older systems rely on separate DVRs, NVRs, or recording servers. Investigating an event may require someone to know which recorder and camera to access, then search through a long block of video. Verkada cameras combine onboard processing and storage with remote management through Verkada Command. Authorized users can view cameras, review historical footage, and manage multiple locations through one platform. Search tools can narrow footage using available details involving motion, people, vehicles, time, or location. This can help when investigating activity near an entrance, movement around inventory, a vehicle entering a restricted area, camera tampering, or an event involving several cameras. The purpose is not to collect more video. It is to make the right video easier to find. Will the right person know when something happens? Traditional camera systems often help after someone reports an incident. Intelligent alerts can notify the appropriate person when defined activity occurs. Alerts may be configured around conditions such as line crossing, activity during certain hours, motion, or camera tampering. The destination matters too. Activity near a loading dock may need to reach someone different from an issue at the main entrance or server room. More alerts are not always better. If every movement creates a notification, important events become harder to notice. Alerts should reflect the locations, schedules, and concerns that matter to the business. Do your cameras and door records tell the same story? Access control records which credential was used, which door was involved, and when the event occurred. Video shows what happened around it. If a badge is used at a restricted entrance after hours, the access record identifies the credential. Related footage can help confirm who entered and what happened before and after the door opened. When those records are available through a coordinated platform, the person investigating spends less time switching between systems and building the timeline manually. The business still needs a response process. Someone must decide who receives alerts, who can change permissions, and when an event should be escalated. The technology provides the information. The response plan determines what happens next. Can your network support your security system? Cloud-managed cameras and access controls depend on the technology at each location. Network connectivity, power, user accounts, permissions, and secure administrator access all affect how the system performs. Before installation, Links reviews: * Camera placement and coverage * Network and power requirements * Video-retention needs * User roles and permissions * Alert routing * Ongoing support responsibilities Those responsibilities continue after installation. Devices must remain connected. Accounts and permissions need to be reviewed. Access for former employees and administrators must be removed. Technical problems need a clear owner. This is where Links' Managed IT experience supports the physical security system. Schaumburg and Chicagoland businesses can work with a local partner that understands the cameras, platform, network, configuration, and ongoing support requirements. Can you keep any of your existing equipment? Updating physical security does not always require replacing every camera or door reader. However, businesses should not assume that all existing equipment will work with a new platform. Verkada Command Connector can bring certain supported third-party cameras into Command. Compatibility depends on the manufacturer, model, firmware, network, and features the business needs. Third-party cameras may also have limitations involving maintenance, analytics, alerts, firmware updates, network interruptions, or technical support. Existing door readers and access-control equipment require a separate review. An assessment can determine what may remain, what should be replaced, and whether a phased transition makes sense. A simple test for your current security setup. Choose one recent camera or door event and try to reconstruct what happened. Can your team quickly identify: * When and where the event occurred? * Who or what was involved? * What happened immediately before and after it? * Whether the right person received an alert? * Who can save or share the footage? * Who can change or remove access permissions? * Who owns the issue if a camera, door, or network connection fails? If the process requires several logins, long footage searches, or calls to different vendors, your system may be recording activity without giving your team the visibility and support it needs. See what your physical security system could do. Verkada provides the physical security platform. Links provides the local planning, installation, networking, configuration, and technical accountability behind it. Links can review your cameras, access controls, locations, network, and response process. Links Technology Solutions, Inc. can explain which existing equipment may be compatible and recommend a practical path based on your needs. Contact Links Technology to schedule a physical security assessment or Verkada demonstration.

Verkada's 2026 leadership exodus: what it means for security integrators and channel partners. August 6, 2026 If you sell, install, or recommend Verkada, you've probably noticed something this year: your rep changed. Maybe more than once. That's not a coincidence - it's a pattern, and it's well-documented. Over the past several months, Verkada has lost its Head of Global Channel, a channel VP, an 8.5-year sales SVP, several of its highest-producing account executives, and finance leadership - all detailed in a series of reports from IPVM, the independent physical security research firm. For a security distributor like GSS, and for the installers and integrators Gssdvr work with every day, this isn't just industry gossip. Channel continuity, deal registration, and vendor support all run through the people in these roles. When those people leave in waves, it's worth understanding why - and what it means for your business. Here's what's actually been reported, and what it means if Verkada is part of your line card. The channel leadership vacuum. The most directly relevant departure for GSS's world: Micah Deriso, Verkada's Head of Global Channel, and Caleb Augustin, VP of Channel Sales for the Americas, both exited in quick succession in 2026 - leaving Verkada without permanent channel leadership, according to IPVM's reporting. This wasn't the first time the channel seat had changed hands recently, either. Ryan Bettencourt, one of Verkada's most tenured sales executives, had run SVP of Global Channel Sales himself from May 2024 to March 2025 before being moved into a mid-market sales role - meaning the channel org had already cycled through leadership once before Deriso and Augustin's departures. Bettencourt announced his own exit from Verkada entirely in August 2026, after 8.5 years, saying simply that it was "time for my next chapter." For partners, a revolving door at the top of the channel organization typically shows up as inconsistent deal registration rulings, MDF and program changes, slower escalations, and new account teams who don't have the institutional history your old rep did. A broader pattern, not an isolated exit. IPVM has tracked this as a sustained trend, not a one-off. Recent departures worth knowing about: * Ryan Bettencourt - SVP Mid-Market Sales, previously SVP of Global Sales and SVP of Global Channel Sales, 8.5 years at the company, left in August 2026 without naming his next employer. * Micah Deriso - Head of Global Channel - and Caleb Augustin - VP of Channel Sales, Americas - both departed in 2026, leaving no permanent channel leader in place. * Chris McDonough, Senior Director, also exited in 2026. * Ryan Young, Verkada's very first sales hire and the architect of its early sales culture, left in June 2026 to become head of sales at Netic, an AI-powered revenue platform serving HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies. * Dylan Chesney, a six-year account executive and one of Verkada's top 40 all-time revenue producers, followed Young to Netic in July 2026, along with Hunter Lott, who had generated roughly $9.5M in lifetime bookings. * Chase Schaaf, a 5.5-year senior sales manager who helped open Verkada's Phoenix office, left for Axon in July 2026 - notably, Verkada's Phoenix office and Axon's Scottsdale headquarters sit blocks apart, making it a literal cross-street move. * Varun Bhave, Director of Strategic Finance & Business Operations, departed after four years to join Cognition, an AI software company, showing the turnover isn't confined to sales. A few details stand out across these moves: * Verkada's own top sales talent is now clustering at a single competitor. Ryan Young has pulled several of Verkada's best-performing reps to Netic since taking the head-of-sales seat there. * Destinations skew toward AI startups, not physical security rivals - Netic and Cognition both fit that mold - with Axon as the one direct competitor named. * It's not confined to sales. Bhave's exit from a senior finance role suggests the churn runs wider than the go-to-market org alone. The numbers behind the headlines. According to IPVM's turnover analysis, Verkada maintained roughly 27% annual turnover in 2025 - nearly double the ~15% industry average - with turnover accounting for about 77% of total hires, against only around 9% net headcount growth. Separately, IPVM has reported that at least a dozen senior-level employees left the company within the past year. IPVM also points to a structural factor worth knowing: Verkada uses a 10/20/30/40 equity vesting schedule, where employees vest 10% of their equity in year one, 20% in year two, 30% in year three, and the remaining 40% in year four. IPVM notes a recurring pattern of employees departing at or shortly after their four-year mark - consistent with, though not proven to be caused by, completing their vesting. Is this a red flag, or a pre-ipo reset? To be fair to Verkada, turnover at a hypergrowth company approaching a potential IPO isn't automatically a bad sign. Some sources close to the company have suggested to IPVM that turnover among longer-tenured sales leaders may not be entirely unwelcome internally - the thinking being that a changeover in legacy sales leadership could actually help the organization as it works toward going public. That's a reasonable read. But for a channel partner, the reason behind the turnover matters less than the effect: new faces, new processes, and less institutional memory about your account, your deal history, and your market. What this means for your business. If Verkada is part of your product mix - or you're considering adding it - here are the practical questions worth asking before your next quote or renewal: * Who is my current channel contact, and how long have they been in that role? If it's changed twice this year, plan for it to change again. * Is there a single, empowered Head of Channel right now? As of this writing, that seat has been vacant. * How is deal registration and MDF handled during the transition? Get commitments in writing, not just verbally from a rep who may not be there next quarter. * What's my backup plan for support continuity? A multi-brand distributor relationship - rather than a single-vendor dependency - gives you somewhere to turn if your account team disappears mid-project. How GSS can help. This is exactly the kind of situation a distributor should be watching on your behalf. GSS works with a broad line card of cloud and on-prem physical security manufacturers - including Hanwha, IDIS, Vivotek, Teledyne FLIR, and VIDISKY - so your business isn't tied to the fortunes of any single vendor's internal reorg. Browse its full surveillance and access control & alarm lines, or request a quote to talk through alternatives. If you're currently selling Verkada and want a second opinion on deal support or how to structure a project to reduce vendor-side risk, contact your GSS account manager - Gssdvr is happy to walk through your options. Not yet a dealer? Sign up for a wholesale account to get started. Faq. Why are so many Verkada employees leaving in 2026? IPVM has reported a sustained wave of departures across sales, channel, and finance leadership throughout 2025 and into 2026, including the Head of Global Channel, a longtime sales SVP, and several top revenue producers. Verkada's overall turnover rate has run close to double the security industry average during this period. What is Verkada's employee turnover rate? According to IPVM's analysis, Verkada's annual turnover was approximately 27% in 2025, compared to roughly 15% industry-wide, with turnover accounting for about 77% of total hires that year. Who leads Verkada's channel program now? As of the most recent reporting, Verkada's Head of Global Channel (Micah Deriso) and VP of Channel Sales for the Americas (Caleb Augustin) have both departed, and IPVM reports the company was left without permanent channel leadership. Where are departing Verkada employees going? Several have moved to Axon, a direct competitor. Others - including Verkada's first-ever sales hire - have moved to AI startups such as Netic and Cognition rather than to traditional physical security competitors. Should integrators stop selling Verkada? Not necessarily - but it's a good reason to diversify your line card and confirm who your current channel and support contacts are before committing a customer to a long-term platform decision. See its full brand lineup for alternatives worth evaluating.