Get the Flock Out of Texas

Our Take

Texas Civil Rights Project is putting its legal muscle behind a plain truth we've been documenting for a while: Flock Safety's camera networks aren't just "solving crimes," they're building a searchable record of everyone's movements that officers can query with little real oversight. Once that data exists, it doesn't stay contained to stranger-danger scenarios — it becomes available for personal grudges, stalking exes, intimidating activists, or settling scores, because the audit logs and access controls that are supposed to prevent abuse are often thin, self-reported, or simply unenforced.

That's the part of this story that keeps getting glossed over in city council votes and vendor sales pitches: the technology is only as trustworthy as the humans and policies behind it, and right now Texas communities are being asked to take a lot on faith. TCRP is right to frame this as a civil rights fight, not just a budget line item, because unchecked access to a database of where you drive, when, and how often is exactly the kind of power that invites misconduct even from well-meaning departments, let alone bad actors wearing a badge.

If you want to see how far this network already stretches in your own neighborhood, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back at a council meeting or public records request, our take-action page has the tools to get started. Credit to Texas Civil Rights Project for pushing this into daily headlines — the more Texans who see this video, the harder it gets for Flock's expansion to happen quietly.