A Flock camera on Studemont Street was found cut down on Saturday afternoon, at least the fifth instance of vandalism in the city within the last month.
Brian Rausch/Houston Chronicle
A Flock brand security camera at the entrance of Oak Estates neighborhood in Houston on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Another Flock camera was found sawed off in Houston on Saturday, the latest incident of vandalism against the cameras amid a growing backlash both in Houston and nationwide.
The license-plate camera, still attached to the top half of a pole, was seen Saturday lying in the grass of the median of Studemont, just south of Interstate 10, near the Heights. The lower half of the pole was still in the ground.
A spokesperson for Houston Police said the agency was not actively investigating the vandalism. Flock Safety, the camera’s manufacturer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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In a statement to the Houston Chronicle this month, the company said it was focused on educating residents about the cameras and their privacy safeguards.
“Our team engages with city officials, law enforcement agencies, and community stakeholders to listen, explain how our technology works, answer questions, discuss privacy safeguards and oversight measures and share information about how existing agency partners are using the platform,” Flock said in a statement at the time.
A vandalized Flock camera near Washington Avenue and Westcott is photographed in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
The destruction of the camera on Studemont was at least the fifth instance of vandalism against Flock cameras in Houston in the last month, and continued a trend of cameras being spray-painted or cut down. At the end of July, four Flock cameras in Old Braeswood were cut down using a heavy-duty saw, according to one civic leader.
Debates over the cameras have escalated in recent weeks, with law enforcement describing the technology as necessary for public safety and critics arguing it violates residents’ privacy.
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READ MORE: What are Flock cameras? How Houston-area agencies use license plate readers
At a community meeting Thursday night, Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz said the department had recently been hampered in its efforts to identify a man accused of attempting to lure a child into his car, because three cameras near the scene had been cut down.
“Unfortunately, some person that’s not really cool with the license plate reader technology chose to cut the three down,” Diaz said. “We’re kind of hindered by that, but we’re still working on it.”
Also on Saturday, Houston’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America was scheduled to host two “Let’s Get Flock Out of Houston!” walks, in the Galleria and East End, as part of a national week of anti-ALRP action.
Earlier this week, a small group of activists rallied outside the Texas Medical Center with the same anti-Flock message.
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READ MORE: Flock camera surveillance is spreading across the Houston region. So is the backlash.
“We want to let people know that this mass surveillance infrastructure is already being built and already exists here in this city,” Jasmine Khadem González, a protest organizer, said. “(Flock is) more than just a slippery slope. We’re currently in the reality where this kind of mass surveillance infrastructure is, at best, violating our Fourth Amendment rights (against unfair searches).”
Conflicts over use of the cameras have extended outside of Houston.
In recent months, police in Pasadena, Baytown and Fort Bend County have all launched investigations into officers misusing the technology, amid concerns about stalking nationwide.
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The Magnolia Police Department recently canceled its contract with Flock, and League City advanced a non-binding referendum on the use of the cameras to the Nov. 3 ballot. Earlier this month, Hood County Commissioners Court voted to unplug and cover their cameras, after deciding earlier this year to remove them.
This story contains previous reporting from staff writers Ashley Soebroto and Matt deGrood,