Disabled Veteran CONFRONTS Texarkana City Council Over Flock Surveillance Cameras

Our Take

Credit where it's due: Metro TXK News caught a moment that deserves wider attention. A disabled veteran, speaking through Liberty Ledger Media, stood up at a Texarkana City Council meeting and did what more residents should do — asked hard questions about why the city is paying for a network of cameras that logs every plate that passes, who gets access to that data, and what happens when it's shared beyond city lines. That's not fringe paranoia. That's basic oversight of a system most councils approve with barely a debate.

This is the pattern we track constantly: Flock Safety sells convenience and "public safety," cities sign multi-year contracts, and only later does anyone in the room ask about warrantless tracking, data retention, or the fact that plate data routinely flows to agencies with zero local accountability. One resident pushing back in a council chamber won't dismantle the network, but it forces elected officials to go on record, and that record matters when the inevitable data-sharing scandal or misuse story breaks.

Texarkana isn't unique — it's one node in a rapidly expanding surveillance grid stretching across nearly every state. If you want to see how close the nearest camera is to your own driveway, check our camera map, and if you're ready to raise these same questions at your own council meeting, our take-action page has the tools to help you do it.