Texas already has about 13,000 Flock surveillance cameras monitoring your roads crowdsourced estimates by DeFlock. Even more surprising is how many of these were apparently paid for by Texans themselves.
THE Texas Tribune investigation found that at least 3,200 Flock cameras were funded by the $1 annual premium added to auto insurance policies. DeFlock estimates that about a quarter of the cameras currently identified across Texas can be traced back to this funding.
The $1 fee was supposed to fight car crime
Texas introduced the surcharge in 2023 at a time when catalytic converter theft was on the rise. The award has since raised an estimated $81 million. The law itself did not mention automatic license plate readers. Still, at least $30 million has gone into Flock’s deployments, including grants that helped local police buy about 2,000 cameras and a $15.9 million investment that covered nearly 1,200 cameras for the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Several lawmakers who approved the fee told the Tribune they never expected it to fund a statewide license plate surveillance network.
The backlash goes beyond protests
We recently reported how backlash against Flock cameras has spread across the US, with cities canceling contracts and residents even blocking or destroying the cameras. Texas now has more concrete examples of why people are worried.
THE Katy was a police officer was charged with stalking and misuse of official information after allegedly using the department’s Flock cameras and other tracking devices to monitor his ex-wife over several months.
The fight will also reach the polls. League City voters are asked on Nov. 3, whether local police should continue to use fixed Flock license plate readers. Bandera has already canceled his own contract with Flock following months of public opposition.
Governor Greg Abbott now suspends state funding of local Flock grants. For a sum small enough to disappear on an insurance bill, Texans ended up helping fund thousands of surveillance cameras that lawmakers who approved the fee say they never intended to fund.
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