Texas AG candidates Mayes Middleton, Nathan Johnson debate Flock cameras and privacy
The short version: A Texas AG race is now litigating Flock surveillance on camera, proof that ALPR dragnets have become a live political fault line, not a fringe issue.
Our Take
Credit to CBS Texas for getting Mayes Middleton and Nathan Johnson on record about Flock Safety's license plate readers. When candidates for a state's top law enforcement job are forced to answer for a surveillance network most residents never voted on, that's a sign the backlash against ALPRs has gone mainstream. It's no longer just privacy advocates and local city council meetings — it's statewide campaign messaging.
What matters here isn't just who says the right words about 'balancing safety and privacy.' It's whether either candidate will commit to real guardrails: audit trails, public access logs, bans on data-sharing with ICE or out-of-state agencies, and consequences when departments blow past their own retention policies. Texas has one of the densest Flock footprints in the country, and an AG race is exactly the kind of leverage point that can force statewide accountability instead of the current patchwork of city-by-city fights.
Watch the segment, then check our camera map to see how saturated your own county already is — and use our take-action page to push your local officials before the next election cycle, not after.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of CBS TEXAS, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.