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MiracleMiles, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n
The cities of Hewitt and Kyle are the latest in a slew of Texas localities opting out of involvement with Flock Safety cameras.<\/p>\n
Hewitt\u2019s recent decision<\/a> to take down its Flock cameras comes as the Kyle City Council voted 4-3<\/a> to cover its cameras.<\/p>\n Flock\u2019s automated license plate readers<\/a> (ALPRs) use AI to scan license plates and save information about a vehicle, such as make, model, color, and other identifiers like cosmetic damage or bumper stickers. \u201cWe ended our agreement with the ALPR vendor, which is Flock, and it\u2019s due to the grant funding,\u201d Hewitt City Manager Jim Devlin said. \u201cWe wanted to ensure that we didn\u2019t later on receive a bill for funds that we didn\u2019t have available.\u201d<\/p>\n Devlin noted that Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a>\u2019s recent pause<\/a> of state funding for Flock cameras played a crucial role in the decision. In the city of Kyle, Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale and Councilmember Melisa Medina were some of the most outspoken critics of the cameras, citing concerns surrounding how much data<\/a> is collected and where the data is stored. The Kyle City Council voted in September<\/a> against ending two of the city\u2019s three Flock contracts. Residents may get to voice their opinions on the city\u2019s involvement with the cameras via a non-binding question on a May 2027 ballot.<\/p>\n The decisions from Kyle and Hewitt come as the technology is also under scrutiny for abuse. Former Lufkin patrolman Zachary Klein was recently sentenced to five years in prison<\/a> after pleading guilty to 100 counts of misuse of official information involving abuse of the Flock system.<\/p>\n Klein used the system to track his former romantic partner, her family, and her romantic partners, and is believed<\/a> to be one of the most prolific abusers of the Flock system in the nation, having conducted more than 25,000 license plate searches for non-law enforcement purposes.<\/p>\n
Flock allows law enforcement officers to access its database without acquiring a warrant. This has raised concerns over potential violations of citizens\u2019 Fourth Amendment rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it comes back and it\u2019s something that\u2019s viable for the city of Hewitt, it\u2019s something that we\u2019ll end up looking at,\u201d Devlin noted.<\/p>\n
Police Chief Jeff Barnett noted that one camera had previously been cut down, and Flores-Cale and Medina both addressed opinions from residents in the decision.<\/p>\n
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