Flock Safety interested in bringing its license plate readers back to Austin

Our Take

CBS Austin reports that Flock Safety is angling for a second act in Austin, reaching out to city leaders after a previous falling-out over its ALPR network. Credit to the CBS Austin team for keeping this on the public record — these redo pitches tend to happen quietly, with vendors betting that a new election cycle or a new mayor means nobody remembers why the cameras came down in the first place.

Austin isn't a blank slate here. If the city walked away from Flock once, residents deserve a real accounting of what changed, what data-sharing and retention promises are being offered this time, and whether any outside agencies — including federal immigration enforcement — would get backdoor access to scans of Austinites' daily movements. Flock's pitch is always convenience and crime-solving; the part that gets left out of the sales deck is the audit trail, or lack of one, once plate data starts flowing to agencies the city never agreed to share with.

If you're in Austin, this is the moment to show up to council and ask pointed questions before any contract gets renewed, not after. Check our camera map to see what's already deployed nearby, and use our take-action guide to push for transparency before Flock's cameras go back up.