Texas City adds safeguards after review of Flock camera program
The short version: Texas City's own audit found possible ALPR misuse and is now adding 'safeguards' — proof that Flock systems get abused even with policies supposedly already in place.
Our Take
Give credit to KHOU 11 for digging into this one. A city reviews its own Flock camera program and finds two possible cases of misuse — and only then does it start talking about 'safeguards.' That ordering tells you everything about how these systems actually get deployed: cameras go up first, oversight gets bolted on later, if at all, and usually only after someone gets caught.
This is the pattern we track across the country. Departments sell city councils on ALPRs as a narrow tool for stolen cars and Amber Alerts, then the audit trail shows officers running plates for reasons that have nothing to do with that pitch. Texas City deserves some credit for actually reviewing its own data and being transparent about what it found, which is more than a lot of agencies do. But 'we found problems so now we're adding rules' is not the same as a system that was designed with accountability baked in from day one.
If you live near Texas City or anywhere else, check our camera map to see what's watching your block, and use our take-action guide to push your own city council for the audits and public reporting that shouldn't require a scandal to happen.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KHOU 11, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.