AUSTIN, Texas — Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are becoming a flashpoint across Texas, raising questions about privacy and public safety. Now, the debate is entering the race for Texas governor ahead of the November election.

Advocacy groups estimate there are thousands of ALPR cameras across Texas, and backlash in cities including Austin has fueled a broader conversation about how the technology is used and who has access to the data.

Flock Safety is one of the most widely used ALPR providers in Texas. Its cameras photograph passing vehicles and record identifying information. Police agencies can search those records across participating camera networks, in some cases spanning thousands of systems nationwide.

Supporters say ALPRs can help police quickly locate suspects, stolen vehicles and vehicles connected to crimes. Opponents raise concerns about privacy, data sharing and potential misuse.

Beyond party lines

Baylor University political science professor Pat Flavin said the ALPR controversy, like data centers, is unusual in today’s political climate because it can cut across party lines.

“They’re some of the few issues that seem to draw bipartisan concern and in some cases, outrage,” Flavin said.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a Republican, wrote an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle this month calling on Abbott to halt new surveillance-technology purchases and deployments until stronger safeguards are put in place.

Flock Safety defends its technology, arguing it helps law enforcement solve crimes, and that new systems are in place to prevent misuse.

Austin police have not been able to use most license plate cameras after the city chose not to renew its contract with Flock Safety last year.

Law enforcement groups, like the Austin Police Association and the Texas Municipal Police Association, backed the use of ALPR technology in the wake of a May shooting spree in Austin.

Gov. Greg Abbott criticized Austin’s decision not to use the cameras at the time.

“It’s just one of the ways in which Travis County and the City of Austin are behind the ball as it concerns solving crimes, preventing crimes,” Abbott said in May.

ALSO| Pflugerville City Council denies new agreement with Flock Safety

Hinojosa ad attacks Abbott on ALPRs

Democratic candidate for governor Gina Hinojosa’s campaign highlighted the use of ALPR cameras in Texas in an ad released this week targeting Abbott. The ad points to the Texas Department of Public Safety’s contract with Flock Safety.

“There’s only 10,000 Flock cameras reading your plate, logging where you sleep and pray, no warrant needed in Greg Abbott’s Texas,” the ad says.

State records show DPS currently has a contract with Flock Safety carrying a maximum value of more than $28.5 million.

Flavin said the divide over license plate readers and public safety could matter in a close contest, even if it only shifts a small number of voters.

“I think it could play a factor at the margins. So, take someone who’s concerned about Flock cameras in their community, taking pictures of their vehicles that drive by or of a proposed data center,” Flavin said, “And even if they’re strongly opposed to that, say, if you’re a Republican, does that outweigh your allegiance to the Republican Party? And also, all the good things that you view that Gov. Greg Abbott has done?”

Abbott’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment about ALPRs and Hinojosa’s ad.

CBS Austin also requested a comment from Texas DPS for more details on its contract with Flock and how many cameras the agency has deployed. The agency did not respond ahead of our deadline.

Will it matter in November?

Flavin cautioned that even if the issue energizes some voters, Texas’ political landscape remains a major hurdle for Democrats.

“I think any enthusiasm among democrats today, I think there are real reasons to be optimistic, should also be perhaps tempered with the just underlying partisan lean of Texas. So Texas does not overnight become, by any means, a Democratic state,” he said.

The latest polling from the Texas Politics Project this month found Abbott leading Hinojosa, 45% to 40%. Ten percent of voters said they still “haven’t thought about it enough to have an opinion.”