Who can search where my car has been? Here is what Lubbock agencies say about their systems, what has been reported, and how to read the public records yourself.
ExplainerLast checked September 29, 2026Not legal advice
01
The short version
The Lubbock Police Department and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office use cameras that read license plates. The photos and the plate text are stored, so an agency can search them later or get an alert when a plate on its list goes by. Each agency posts a “transparency portal” with some of its numbers and rules.
This page puts those two portals, two news reports and the state’s open-records rules side by side. It does not say whether the cameras are a good idea. Agencies describe a safety purpose. Neighbors and council members have raised privacy questions. Both are here, in plain words, and every fact links to where it came from.
How this page works
Every fact has a receipt: who said it, the date the source shows, and a link to open it.
Numbers change. The portal is the source of record, not this page.
What an agency says about its own system is its statement. 806 Connect has not audited it.
When a source does not say something, we write “not shown” or “not stated.” We do not fill the gap.
02
What is a license-plate reader?
A license-plate reader (ALPR) is a camera paired with software that reads the plate in a photo and saves it as text, along with the date, the time and which camera took it.
An ordinary security camera records footage for a person to watch or review. A plate reader turns each plate that passes into a record a person can search.
Compare
An ordinary security camera
Records footage
A person watches or reviews it
You look for a moment in the video
Compare
A license-plate reader
Takes still photos of passing plates and vehicles
Software reads the plate into searchable text
You look up a plate and see the times and places it was seen
What the agencies say it is used for
Retroactive search. Looking back through stored photos to help solve a crime after it has happened.
Hotlist alerts. An alert when a plate on a list the agency is watching for passes a camera. A hotlist is just that: a list of plates an agency has asked to be alerted about. LPD’s portal names two sources for its lists: NCIC and NCMEC Amber Alert.
Both portals describe these two uses in their “Overview”; the wording and source are in section 05. A “hotlist hit” means a passing plate matched a list. The portals do not say how many hits led to a stop or an arrest.
What they say it does not read
Both portals list what is detected (license plates, vehicles) and what is not (facial recognition, people, gender, race). That is the agencies’ and the vendor’s description. We have not tested it.
Flock Safety is the company that makes the system and hosts both portals.
03
What Lubbock agencies say
Two agencies publish portals. Each shows a “Last updated” date. We read both on Sept. 29, 2026, and both showed Sept. 28, 2026. Everything in these cards is the agency’s own statement, in the portal’s words.
Immigration enforcement, traffic enforcement, harassment or intimidation, usage based solely on a protected class (i.e. race, sex, religion), Personal use.
A note on camera numbersLPD’s portal shows 103 under “Total Cameras” (the portal’s words: “Number of LPR and other cameras”) and 17 under “LPR Cameras.” KCBD, in the next section, reports a different description from the chief on Sept. 8. The sources use different words, and we cannot tell from either whether they count the same things. This page does not combine them. The County’s portal shows no camera count. To ask, see “Look at the records yourself.”
About hitsThe two hit counts come from two agencies and the portals do not explain how they are counted. We are not comparing them.
04
What has been reported
Two news reports from September 2026. Each item says who reported it and what date the report carries. If a report is later corrected, the linked article is the record.
KCBD: the Police Department’s presentation to City Council
KCBD reported, September 8, 2026
City agreement
The City entered into a two-year agreement with Flock “last year” (per KCBD’s Sept. 2026 article).
Using the KCBD numbersKCBD’s camera types (fixed, mobile, awaiting approval) are the chief’s description on Sept. 8. They are not the portal’s categories, and we do not mix the two.
What this page did not findIn this pass we did not find a source explaining how the governor’s order applies to the City’s or the County’s own systems. We are not saying it does or does not. The Tribune’s wording above is all we can attribute.
05
Questions neighbors ask
Each answer below is only what is on the record, with the source next to it. Where the record is silent, it says so.
The same question, from two directions
Stated purpose and safeguards
Why agencies say they use them
Retroactive search to solve crimes after they’ve occurred, and real time alerting of hotlist vehicles to capture wanted criminals.
The chief said the aim is to find criminals and reduce victimization, not to follow routine trips, and that without the cameras the department would need many more officers
Council members asked who has access to the photos and whether Flock, the company, has access to the city’s information; the chief said Flock stores the information but does not have access to it
A council member asked whether the system reports drivers without a license, without insurance or with prior tickets; the chief said those are not reasons an officer would use it
Not statedThe price, the number of cameras in the contract and the County’s contract terms. None of these are on either portal or in the reports above. A records request can ask for the contract.
How can I see the records myself?
The next section walks through it, with a sample request. Look at the records
06
Look at the records yourself
The Texas Public Information Act (PIA) is how the public asks a government office for its records. The Attorney General describes it as a way to inspect or copy government records.
Five steps
Decide what to ask for.
Useful, specific requests: the contract with the vendor and any amendments; the written policy on use, retention and who may search; agreements to share data with other agencies; and the most recent audit of searches.
Send it to the right office.
For the City and LPD, the Police Department’s Media page says open records requests can be emailed to orr@mylubbock.us, mailed to the City’s Open Records Officer or made in person. Open the page for the mailing address and phone. Lubbock County has its own process for the Sheriff’s Office; start on the county’s website and look for its public information contact.
A sample is below. Name the records, not your opinion of them.
Know the clock.
The Attorney General’s page says that if a body will take longer than ten business days to produce the information, it must tell you when it will be released.
If you hear nothing.
The same page says that if a body fails to respond or to ask for an Attorney General ruling within ten business days, you may seek assistance from the Attorney General’s Open Records Division.
Ten business days
If a governmental body will take longer than ten business days to produce the information, it must notify you when it will be released.
If a body does not respond or request an Attorney General ruling within ten business days, you may seek assistance from the Attorney General’s Open Records Division.
Copy it, change the bracketed parts and send it. Nothing here is a form; each office may have its own.
To the Open Records Officer:
Under the Texas Public Information Act, I am asking for copies of these records about the automatic license-plate reader system used by [agency name]:
1. Any contract or agreement with the system’s vendor, including amendments, the price and the number of cameras.
2. The written policies on how the system is used, how long data is kept and who may search it.
3. Any agreements to share data with other agencies.
4. The most recent audit or review of searches.
Please send copies by email if you can. If you withhold any part, please tell me which part and why.
Thank you.
[Your name] [How to reach you]
Not legal adviceThis page explains a public process in plain words. It is not legal advice. For questions about your rights, the Attorney General’s Open Government Hotline and a lawyer are better places to start.
07
Sources and corrections
Everything above comes from these pages. Open them; they are the record.
LPD transparency portalAgency portal (official) · as of September 28, 2026https://transparency.flocksafety.com/lubbock-tx-pd
County Sheriff transparency portalAgency portal (official) · as of September 28, 2026https://transparency.flocksafety.com/lubbock-county-tx-so-
KCBDNews report · as of September 8, 2026https://www.kcbd.com/2026/09/09/lubbock-police-defend-flock-camera-use-amid-privacy-questions/
The Texas TribuneNews report · as of September 4, 2026https://www.texastribune.org/2026/09/04/texas-flock-cameras-dps-network-search-abbott/
Texas Attorney GeneralGovernment page (official) · read on September 29, 2026https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/open-government/members-public/overview-public-information-act
This page links official sources and news reports. It does not link advocacy or vendor-marketing pages, so that no one’s argument stands in for the record.
Spot a mistake or an old number?
Tell us and we will check it against the source and log the fix on the corrections page.
