Bastrop city leaders scheduled to vote Tuesday night on terminating its Flock contract

Our Take

Credit to KVUE for getting cameras rolling on what's becoming a familiar scene across Texas and the country: a city council quietly signs a Flock Safety contract, residents eventually find out, and then a fight breaks out over whether a network of license plate readers belongs on public streets at all. That Bastrop leaders are reportedly putting termination on the table Tuesday night is notable — most of these contracts sail through without a second vote, let alone a reconsideration.

This matters because ALPR systems aren't neutral traffic tools. They log every passing vehicle, build a searchable travel history on anyone who drives through town, and that data can be shared well beyond the police department that installed the cameras. Residents asking for an outright ban aren't being paranoid — they're asking the only question that matters before city money and public roads get wired into a private surveillance network: do we actually want this, and did we ever get a real say?

Whatever Bastrop decides, it's a reminder that these contracts are not permanent once signed. Councils can terminate them, and public pressure is often what makes that happen. Check our camera map to see what's already deployed near you, and if your city hasn't had this conversation yet, our take-action page has the tools to start it.