This summer, Flock Safety's license plate-reading cameras became a contentious topic for Texans of every stripe. Cities and police departments across the state have dropped the AI-empowered cameras that scan and catalog license plates in the hopes of preventing and solving crimes.
People have found a lot to dislike about these cameras — and Flock. The company has been accused of lying to police departments and local leaders. They own all of the images from these cameras, so police can't always control where that data ends up. And on top of that, some police officers have abused the technology to stalk people. KUT reached out to Flock Safety for this story but did not hear back.
The backlash even pushed Gov. Greg Abbott to pause all state funding for new Flock cameras late last month. In an interview with conservative talk show host Glenn Beck, Abbott called the mass cancellation of county and municipal contracts with Flock a "crackdown."
"The Flock cameras are being reduced dramatically, and they're going to be required to be used responsibly if they're used at all," Abbott said.
But the cameras are still in use throughout Central Texas.
Where is Flock in Central Texas?
For one, there are private Flock cameras all over the city. Malls like Barton Creek Square and the Domain have them. Plenty of HOAs have cameras, too, as do big-box stores like Home Depot and Academy.
The Texas Department of Public Safety also operates a network of cameras across the state, including along state-owned roadways in Austin. DPS shares that data directly with more than 200 law enforcement agencies in Texas, according to a list shared with KUT by state police.
The department also shares some Flock data with agencies, like the Austin Police Department, in joint investigations on a case-by-case basis. Austin voted last year to end its contract with Flock, and it doesn't have direct access to Flock's searchable database.
Several local law enforcement agencies are also still using the license plate readers. Here's a list of Central Texas departments still using Flock:
- Hutto Police Department
- Bastrop County Sheriff's Office
- Taylor Police Department
- Kyle Police Department
- Buda Police Department
- Lakeway Police Department
- Cedar Park Police Department
- Round Rock Police Department
Georgetown has plans to set up Flock cameras but has not yet done so, while both Liberty Hill and Bastrop police have signaled they plan on ending their programs this week.
Of all the local police still using Flock cameras, the Round Rock Police Department has the biggest footprint. Its 43 license plate-readers clocked more than 676,000 vehicles in the last month, and the department shared data with 1,453 agencies, according to the Round Rock Police Department's transparency portal operated by Flock.
More than half of the agencies that received Flock data from Round Rock were not located in Texas. The department decides whether those agencies have approval from Flock to view license plate data, but they do not all have written agreements in place.
Round Rock's total dwarfs the number of shares that pushed Pflugerville to end its partnership with Flock. Before canceling its Flock contract in late August, Pflugerville discovered its police shared data with more than 400 agencies but only 83 had formal data-sharing agreements with the department.
Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks said the department has recently limited the number of employees that can input data into the platform and his department is in "constant communication" with Flock. Banks said "unless there's a change or City Council tells us otherwise," he has no plans to stop using the license plate-readers.
"We will not make everybody happy," Banks told KUT. "We won't … but I also have an obligation to take care of our community. And if somebody commits a crime … it's our job to hold them accountable."
What's next?
Just a few months ago, Flock cameras were touted as a solution in Austin, when three suspects allegedly went on a shooting spree across the city. The Austin Police Department doesn't have Flock cameras anymore, but Manor police did, and the department's Flock cameras helped APD find the suspects. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson floated bringing the cameras back to Austin, but a lot's changed since then.
Last week, Manor Police Chief Ryan Phipps ended his department's Flock Safety program, citing community concerns.
Phipps told KUT that controversy surrounding Flock backlash put Manor PD in the crosshairs of residents.
"[There's been] frustration with the defending of the company being placed on law enforcement and having law enforcement explain when another agency misused the system," he said. "It seemed like it was always on us."
Phipps said Flock — as good as it is at helping cops catch criminals — wasn't worth the trouble.
"Ultimately, the trust of my community is worth more than that camera," Phipps said.
Elgin also had nine cameras, but the agency told KUT it's stopped using them until "elected officials … decide what is in the best interests of this community," Chief Chris Noble told KUT.
In a memo to the Elgin mayor and city manager, Noble said the high-profile cases of mismanagement or abuse of data, along with the public's mistrust, outweighed the use of the technology.
"I completely understand the public's perceptions, and resulting mistrust of how [Flock] data is used, stored, and shared," he said. "Regrettably, the actions of a few people in law enforcement agencies across the country have stained this investigative tool; irreparably, I fear."
While the anti-Flock sentiment has taken hold across the country, the backlash hasn't surprised Mackenzie Rhine, an attorney and privacy advocate with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in Austin. Rhine helped push the Austin City Council to limit Flock last year, but she says the state needs to step in and provide clearer guidelines for regulating license plate-readers. Absent that, Rhine says another company is likely going to fill the Flock-shaped hole in the market.
"Now what we're gonna see is a company … that learned from Flock's mistakes," she said. "They have better PR. They're going to have nicer language. They're going to find a way to facilitate the same things Flock does with a nice veneer."
Rhine says the issue of mass surveillance cuts across party lines this summer, and she hopes state lawmakers set up statewide guardrails for cities and counties — and cops — when the Legislature meets next year.
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