A vehicle passes by a Flock camera along Homestead Road near Van Zandt in Houston. The number of cases of misuse of the technology continues to grow.
Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle
The Texas City Police Department suspended two employees, including one who was demoted from sergeant to officer, over alleged misuse of Flock cameras, the city revealed in a meeting last week.
The Texas City Commission held a special meeting last week in which, among passing an increased tax rate, Assistant Police Chief James Patterson gave a presentation on how the department is using Flock cameras.
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Patterson said during his presentation that the department in August instituted a monthly audit process in which Flock logs for every employee of the Police Department. An audit spanning January to June and about 11,900 searches found 58 that were not for a law enforcement purposes, Patterson said.
In one instance, a civilian dispatcher was found to have used Flock on multiple occasions to check on the status of her child who was driving her car. The employee made 42 searches, according to the presentation. She was suspended for multiple days.
In the second instance, a sergeant was demoted to the rank of a police officer after the audit revealed he had used Flock 16 times for non-law enforcement purposes. The presentation didn’t disclose what the officer used the searches for. He was also suspended for multiple days.
Flock’s internal audit assistance tool helped the department identify both cases of alleged misuse, said Patterson, who didn’t name the two employees.
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The Chronicle has reached out to the police department for comment.
Both cases were presented to the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office’s Public Integrity Unit, according to the presentation. The district attorney’s office declined to file criminal charges against the employees. Both instances of misconduct were reported to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
Patterson emphasized that the incidents of misuse made up a small percentage of the department’s use of Flock in the last six months.
Texas City police deployed Flock cameras in 2022 and has 28 in place that cost the city $71,000 annually, according to the presentation. Patterson said in September the department started requiring all employees to receive certifications through “Flock Academy.”
The department shares data from Flock with 768 law enforcement agencies, including federal and out of state agencies, according to the presentation. Patterson credited the Flock cameras with helping the department make arrests in cases involving aggravated assault, online solicitation of minors and stolen property.
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“This presentation is not to change anybody’s mind,” Patterson said, referring to the debate over the use of license plate readers. “This presentation is merely for transparency and to try and maintain the community trust and legitimacy the department does have.”
Instances of law enforcement misusing Flock cameras locally and nationwide have propelled criticism of the technology and debates over privacy concerns. Several Texas cities and counties have in recent months decided to end contracts for Flock cameras after resident pushback. At the state level, Gov. Greg Abbott in September ordered a freeze on all state funding for cameras, a move that will cost Houston police about 200 cameras.
Texas City resident Jeff Prouty used public comment at the meeting to oppose tax dollars being used for unwarranted Flock camera searches. He referred to a lesson his Texas City High School government teacher impressed on him in the late 1970s and paraphrased Benjamin Franklin.
“What I want most from my government is to leave me alone,” Prouty said. “Texas City police don’t need a picture of me. They don’t need a picture of my dog. Benjamin Franklin said it’s better that 100 guilty go free than one innocent is molested.”
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