GOP Midterm Convention Kicks Off
The short version: Texas Scorecard reports Bastrop City Council voted to end its Flock Safety camera contract, a small but telling sign that local pushback on ALPR surveillance is spreading.
Our Take
Buried in Texas Scorecard's roundup of GOP convention news and Harris County tax fights is the item that matters most to us: Bastrop City Council voted to end its Flock camera contract. That's not a footnote. It's a data point in a growing pattern of local governments reconsidering deals they signed without much scrutiny, often sold on vague promises of 'solving crime' rather than hard evidence.
Flock's pitch to small cities is always the same: low upfront cost, easy approval, big promise. What rarely gets discussed in council chambers is the backend — who else can query that data, how long it's retained, and whether a patrol-car-worth of license plate scans turns into a permanent movement log on every driver who passes through town. When councils start walking these contracts back, it usually means someone finally asked those questions out loud.
Credit to Texas Scorecard for flagging a city-level vote that bigger outlets would've skipped. These decisions get made quietly, and they can get reversed quietly too if nobody's watching. Check our camera map to see what's deployed near you, and if your own council hasn't had this conversation yet, use our take-action resources to start it.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Texas Scorecard, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.