Map Shows Texas Camera Hotspots as Governor Cuts Funding

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies to stop sending money to a company called Flock Safety, which makes cameras that read car license plates. A new map shows which Texas counties have the most of these cameras watching the roads. The move comes after many people raised concerns that the cameras collect too much information and that some police officers have misused them.

Flock Safety cameras are a type of technology called automated license plate readers, or ALPRs. These cameras take photos of license plates as cars drive by and store that data so police can search it. Thousands of police departments across 49 states use Flock cameras to help solve crimes and find missing people. But critics say the system also makes it easy to track people who have done nothing wrong.

A Texas newspaper called the Texas Tribune was getting ready to publish a report about how a state agency had spent at least $30 million to set up Flock cameras across Texas. That report said the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority helped install at least 3,200 Flock cameras since 2023. The agency used money from a Texas law passed in 2023 that raised car insurance costs by one dollar per person. Abbott's spokesman said the governor has now told state agencies that they cannot use state funds for Flock cameras.

A map kept by the Texas Privacy Coalition shows that there are more than 13,500 ALPRs spread across 218 of Texas' 254 counties. The cameras are most common in the state's biggest, most populated areas. Harris County, which includes the city of Houston, has the most cameras with 3,546. Dallas County is second with 1,334, and Tarrant County is third with 949 cameras.

Other counties in the top ten include Collin County with 603 cameras, Fort Bend County with 596, and Denton County with 534. Bexar County has 433, and Travis County has 430. Montgomery County has 271, and Williamson County has 240 cameras. All of these are among the most populated areas in the state.

In a radio interview on Friday, Abbott said there is a 'crackdown' happening as cities and counties cancel their Flock contracts. He pointed to a police officer in the city of Lufkin who is facing criminal charges for using Flock's system to secretly watch a former girlfriend. Abbott said Texans deserve to know how the cameras are being used and that their privacy must be protected. He added that no private person should ever have access to Flock camera data.

However, some people say Abbott helped cause the problem in the first place. Texas State Representative Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat who wants to be governor, wrote on social media that Abbott 'brought Flock to Texas.' She asked him to 'stop turning Texas into a surveillance state.' Her comments show that there is disagreement even among people who now want the cameras reined in.

Flock Safety said in a statement that it supports strong rules to make sure its technology is used the right way. The company said its cameras help officers solve serious crimes, find missing people, and recover stolen cars. Flock's founder, Garrett Langley, has said the company's goal is not a world of nonstop surveillance but one where people feel safe. He has also asked lawmakers to make it a crime to misuse Flock's data.

Flock recently announced changes to its system to address the concerns. Starting January 1, all police customers must use a tool that watches for unusual activity and locks out users who behave suspiciously. The company will also shorten the time it keeps data from 30 days down to 7 days. Officers will also have to link each camera search to a specific case number before they can run it.

More than 50 cities and towns across the country have already canceled or rejected their Flock contracts this year, according to a group called DeFlock. The backlash grew after The Washington Post reported that nearly 50 police officers had been accused of using Flock's system for personal reasons, like spying on romantic partners or family members. The debate over Flock cameras is part of a bigger national conversation about how much information the government can collect about everyday people.