“An LPR Alert Is Only The Beginning.”
That is not this site's phrase. It is the subject line Flock put on an email to Springdale's Chief of Staff. Over five weeks the company pitched drones to the Chief of Staff and to the Mayor. The City produced the emails. Here they are in order.
- Wednesday, June 24, 2026 · 9:04 a.m. Email
Flock, to Colby Fulfer — the Mayor's Chief of Staff
Subject: An LPR Alert Is Only The Beginning
“An LPR alert can identify a vehicle quickly, but teams still need a way to understand what's happening around it in real-time. That's why more agencies are starting to connect drone as first responder with license plate readers and live video in the same workflow, so incidents can be detected, verified, and acted on with a clearer picture from the start.”
The subject line is the vendor's, not this site's.
- Thursday, July 9, 2026 · 9:05 a.m. Email
Flock, to Mayor Doug Sprouse
Subject: Connected Coverage For 20 Square Miles
“Drone as First Responder extends visibility across up to 20 square miles, helping teams gain live aerial context before officers arrive on scene. When connected with the Flock license plate readers and live video you already use, the workflow becomes much more coordinated.”
Flock is describing a bundled deployment: drones priced alongside the cameras a city already has.
- Wednesday, July 22, 2026 · 9:03 a.m. Email
Flock, to Mayor Doug Sprouse
Subject: A More Connected Approach to Response
“You already have license plate readers and live video working together. The next step for many agencies is connecting Drone as First Responder to that same workflow, so aerial visibility kicks in when an alert fires and officers arrive with a clearer picture of what's unfolding on scene.”
Flock is offering what it calls a bundled air-and-ground deployment — drones priced alongside the cameras a city already has.
- Wednesday, July 22, 2026 · 9:31 a.m. Email
Mayor Doug Sprouse, forwarding it to Chief Derek Wright
“Chief, I'm sure you have been looking into this technology. I just wanted to pass this along in case we have an interest.”
Twenty-eight minutes after the vendor's email arrived.
- Wednesday, July 22, 2026 · 9:35 a.m. Email
Chief Derek Wright, replying to the Mayor, copying the Chief of Staff
“Thank you Mayor, there is definite interest. We are currently working on a grant to fund a project like this.”
Four minutes later. This is the sentence.
What the camera on your road is for
The vendor’s own subject line says it. An LPR alert is only the beginning. The plate reader is not the product. It is the trigger.
What these documents show, and what they do not
They show that the vendor pitched drones to Springdale three times in five weeks, that the Mayor passed it to the Chief, and that the Chief answered within four minutes that there is definite interest and a grant is being worked on.
They do not show a contract, a purchase, a council vote, or a drone in the air over Springdale. Nothing here says the City has agreed to anything. But we believe it is coming.
The dates, in order
The Chief wrote “there is definite interest” on July 22. A Ward 3 resident wrote to his councilman opposing the cameras on July 28. The Chief's public letter — the one explaining that the plate readers do not view video and do not capture images of people — went out on July 30.
Every sentence in that letter is about the plate readers, and every sentence in it is true. It does not mention drones. A resident reading it on July 30 had no way to know what had been written six days earlier.
Ask the City in writing: what grant is being sought, for what equipment, from which programme, and on what date does it come before the Council for a vote? And ask whether any drone acquisition would be treated as a new purchase requiring approval, or as an addition to the existing Flock agreement.
Emails produced by the City of Springdale under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, 2026, from the records of the Mayor and the Chief of Staff. Marketing emails are the vendor's own words and are quoted as sent.