Houston police said Thursday night that vandalism of Flock license plate cameras hindered their investigation of an attempted child kidnapping.
At a community meeting at a downtown police station, Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz said the department received a report Sunday that a man had tried to lure a third-grade student into his car at Memorial Elementary’s SPARK Park. Officers have yet to identify a suspect and are unable to track the car he was driving because three nearby license plate cameras 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.”
The case adds to Houston’s escalating debate over automated license plate readers. Critics have raised privacy concerns about the technology, while law enforcement officials say the cameras can provide valuable evidence in criminal investigations.
Flock cameras automatically photograph passing vehicles and record license plate information that police can search during investigations. Cameras across Houston have recently been cut down or spray-painted.
Diaz said officers canvassed the area around Memorial Elementary on Sunday and contacted Houston ISD about the attempted kidnapping.
He also said residents in the area have declined to share footage from their home security cameras, further hindering the investigation.
Police ask anyone who may have seen a man driving a red sedan around Memorial Elementary on Sunday to contact them.