Texas has stopped state money and new road permits for Flock license plate cameras, and some Texas cities and counties are shutting theirs off. In the 806, Lubbock police say the cameras help solve cases, critics call them a dragnet, and a petition asks the city to ban them. Here is what is known as of Oct. 2, and how to ask your own city what its cameras record.

LUBBOCK, Texas — Flock Safety makes license plate cameras that police departments and sheriff's offices use across Texas. The cameras scan every passing vehicle and record the plate along with details such as make, model and color, the Texas Tribune reported. An officer or investigator can then search that record. Police say it helps them identify suspects and find stolen vehicles. Critics say it logs every driver, not only suspects.

WHAT HAPPENED STATEWIDE

  • Aug. 27-28. Abbott gave the order to halt state funding for Flock cameras, his office confirmed Aug. 28. "To the extent any funding comes from Texas agencies, those agencies are clarifying that those funds cannot be used for Flock cameras," spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said, according to the Tribune. The same day the Tribune reported that a 2023 law adding $1 to Texas auto insurance policies, meant to fight catalytic converter theft, had paid for at least 3,200 Flock cameras through the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority. Lawmakers told the Tribune that using the money for Flock cameras had not been discussed.
  • Sept. 2. State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst called for a statewide ban on plate readers in a Facebook post titled "Get the Flock Out of Texas!" KBTX reported.
  • Sept. 3. DPS said it would pause installing more cameras and keep using its existing ones, the Tribune reported.
  • Sept. 17. TxDOT confirmed it had stopped issuing permits for Flock cameras and other plate readers on state roads, at Abbott's direction. TxDOT said it does not install the cameras and has no access to their data.
  • Sept. 24. The Tribune counted at least 14 cities and counties that had shut off more than 900 cameras since state funding stopped. Houston and Dallas turned off grant-funded cameras but kept much of their networks. Plano, Robinson and Kendall County ended their contracts.
  • As of Oct. 2. Flock paused certain agencies' payments for 90 days, and Dallas kept more than 300 cameras that were set for removal, the Tribune reported. Abbott's office has not said how long the funding freeze will last.

State Reps. Brian Harrison and Mitch Little told the Tribune they plan to file bills next session to ban the devices, arguing they violate the Fourth Amendment.

WHO CAN SEARCH THE DATA

Flock camera data can be shared between agencies. The Tribune found about 615,000 searches on the DPS network in June by 3,075 agencies, 48% of them from outside Texas.

Lubbock works the same way. The Lubbock Police Department's Flock page has sharing and receiving lists naming other Texas police departments and sheriff's offices, including some in the Panhandle and South Plains. Wolfforth Police is named on the sharing list. The page gives no counts.

IN THE 806

LUBBOCK POLICE AND THE CITY

Counts differ by source and date. KCBD reported in June that 27 cameras had monitored Lubbock streets for the past year. On Sept. 8, the police chief told City Council the department has 12 fixed cameras (two needing repairs), six mobile cameras and six more awaiting TxDOT approval. The department's Flock page, as we read it Oct. 1, listed 103 cameras and 17 license plate readers. Those count different things, so we do not add them.

Chief Seth Herman told City Council the cameras take still photos, not video or audio, that retention is to move from 30 days to seven, and that investigators have searched the system more than 37,000 times this year. "We have yet to encounter an event where an officer used this system nefariously or outside of the boundaries of our policies and procedures or state law," Herman said. He said any misuse would bring an internal and a criminal investigation, and that flagged searches are audited every six months, KCBD reported. The city is paying $86,000 for a two-year subscription, KCBD reported in June.

Lt. Brady Cross told KCBD in June: "Flock cameras are not surveillance. They are an investigative tool." Critics in the same story called the system a dragnet over the whole city and questioned police auditing their own searches.

A 2024 City Council item describes plate readers "purchased with State of Texas grant funding." We have not found a public statement on whether the state's freeze affects Lubbock's cameras or the six awaiting TxDOT approval.

THE PETITION

A petition from Lubbock neighbors asking the city to ban Flock license plate cameras needs 2,410 signatures from registered city voters by Oct. 30 to reach the City Council. It is organized by Save Lubbock, the same group behind this summer's data center petition. The proposed ordinance would prohibit Flock Safety cameras and all automated license plate reader and vehicle-tracking systems in Lubbock, according to the group's website. Its goals: end the city's contracts, remove the cameras, purge stored data and make the ban permanent.

Signatures must be signed in person on paper; the organizers say online signatures do not count, and signing locations are listed on the group's website. Under the City Charter, the City Secretary verifies the signatures, the council holds a public hearing and has 30 days to adopt or reject the ordinance, and if it rejects or changes it, organizers can require a public vote. The petition is not on a council agenda yet. Our earlier story has the details: Lubbock's Flock camera petition: what it would do, what police say, and the Oct. 30 deadline.

SLATON, WOLFFORTH AND IDALOU

Slaton's City Commission voted unanimously July 13 to approve an agreement with the South Plains Auto Theft Task Force for plate-reader cameras. In a Sept. 4 statement, Mayor Clif Shaw said no one spoke against it at the open meeting and that the Lubbock County Commissioners Court had authorized the installation in a 4-1 vote in 2023. The city pays one-third of the cost: $5,950 to install and less than $1,000 a year, FOX34 reported.

We found no official camera count for Wolfforth or Idalou. KISS FM reported in August that a crowdsourced map shows several cameras in Wolfforth and one in Idalou, and noted such sightings may be off.

IN AMARILLO

Amarillo police's Flock page, as we read it Oct. 2, listed 99 cameras and 93 license plate readers, with data kept 30 days. Amarillo's police chief told City Council the department would cut retention to seven days, have supervisors run monthly random audits of each officer's searches and review flagged searches within three days, ABC 7 Amarillo reported. Mayor Cole Stanley said the cameras need safeguards against abuse, including an oversight committee.

WHEN OFFICERS MISUSED ACCESS

  • Amarillo. A former Amarillo police officer was fired July 17 after an internal investigation and reported to the Potter County jail Sept. 1. He is charged with 78 counts of tampering with a government record. The complaint alleges 76 Flock searches of one person's plate between February and June, according to KFDA. The charges are allegations.
  • Lufkin. A former officer pleaded to a five-year sentence on 100 counts related to Flock misuse, KTRE reported Sept. 30.
  • Temple. An officer resigned in August after an internal audit showed unauthorized use, KWTX reported Oct. 2.

Lubbock's police chief said Sept. 8 that his department has not found an officer misusing the system.

WHAT OFFICIALS, FLOCK AND CRITICS SAY

  • Police. Lubbock police say the cameras help solve cases, and department data shows the top uses are stolen vehicles, wanted persons and theft, KCBD reported. The chair of the state grant board, who is Laredo's police chief, sees them as a powerful tool against criminal organizations, the Tribune reported.
  • Flock. After the funding pause, the company called its technology "an important public safety tool" and said it supports "thoughtful legislation" with privacy guardrails. On Aug. 13 it announced safeguards, including a case number on every search, automatic review and lockouts for unusual activity, and a seven-day default for data retention, ABC News reported. A Flock spokesperson told KWTX that misuse is unacceptable and that mandatory audits and a lockout system begin Dec. 31.
  • Critics. Kolkhorst called the network "a frightening new web of warrantless mass surveillance." Little questioned how securely the data is stored and whether a private company should have access. In El Paso, after police signed Flock agreements without council involvement, the City Council passed an ordinance requiring its approval of future plate-reader contracts, the Tribune reported.

WHAT WE COULD NOT CONFIRM

  • A single count of Lubbock's cameras, or which of them, if any, were paid for with state grant money.
  • Whether the state freeze or TxDOT pause changes anything for Lubbock's cameras or the six awaiting approval.
  • How long the governor's funding freeze will last.

HOW TO FIND OUT WHETHER YOUR PLATE WAS SEARCHED

  • Know the difference. A camera capturing your plate as you drive by is not the same as someone searching for it. Lubbock police say images not tied to a case are purged after 30 days.
  • Start with the agency's own page. Lubbock and Amarillo police each have a Flock transparency page with camera counts, retention and sharing lists, plus a download of searches from the last 30 days. Our agency-by-agency page collects what each says, with sources.
  • File a Texas Public Information Act request. Ask the police department or sheriff's office that runs the cameras for the contract, camera counts and locations, retention, the list of agencies with access, the search audit log for a narrow date range (to look for your own plate), and the written policies. You do not have to say why. Offices can redact or withhold parts, and they must say what exception they rely on. The office must produce records promptly, or tell you in writing within 10 business days when it can. If it wants to withhold something, it has to ask the Attorney General for a decision. If the charges will be more than $40, it must send an itemized estimate first. Our request builder writes the letter in your browser and sends nothing to us.
  • A third-party lookup exists. Have I Been Flocked collects search logs that agencies released through records requests and transparency pages. It says its data is incomplete and can lag by months or years, so no match does not mean your plate was never searched. We do not run it, so read its privacy page before you type in a plate.
  • If the office does not answer. You can send a written complaint to the Attorney General, and our request page links the hotline and the complaint form.

QUESTIONS NEIGHBORS ASK

  • Are Lubbock's cameras still running? We have not found a source saying Lubbock has turned its cameras off. The governor's orders cover state funding and new permits on state roads, and TxDOT said the pause does not affect cameras already installed.
  • Does the camera see my face? Flock says its cameras detect license plates and vehicles, not faces, KFYO reported.
  • How long is the data kept? Lubbock police say 30 days now and soon seven, longer if tied to an investigation.
  • Can I sign the petition? If you are a registered voter inside the Lubbock city limits, yes. It has to be a paper signature in person by Oct. 30. Locations are listed on the group's website.
  • Is a statewide ban coming? Kolkhorst has called for one, and two state representatives say they will file bills next session. We have not seen a bill filed or a change in state law.

WHERE TO LOOK

We will update this story when officials say more about funding, the TxDOT pause or the petition.

SOURCES

Last updated: Oct. 2, 2026.

— 806 Connect

Photo: 806 Connect screenshot of its Flock camera map. Map data from OpenStreetMap contributors.