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A license plate reading camera manufactured and operated by Flock Safety installed on a utility pole near Echo Lake in south-central Fort Worth.<\/p>\n
Cody Copeland<\/p>\n
Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n
Over the course of two years, Flock cameras have popped up across the nation, and multiple groups are organizing to ban them across Texas.<\/p>\n
Flock cameras are automated license plate readers used by law enforcement. Any law enforcement agency with a Flock contract can plug in a license plate number and their reason for search to detect where that car has been spotted by Flock cameras, even outside the agency\u2019s jurisdiction. The data collected is deleted within 30 days, if not seven.<\/p>\n
There are over 1,200 Flock cameras in Tarrant County, according to DeFlock Fort Worth\u2019s map<\/a>.<\/p>\n In recent months, the Republican Party of Texas<\/a> and the Libertarian Party of Texas<\/a> both took stances against automated license plate readers. Local groups like DeFlock Fort Worth, DeFlock DFW, CLEAR Rule of Law and the Tarrant County chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus have taken the matter into their own hands, demanding Tarrant County and its cities remove the cameras.<\/p>\n Joe Palmer, chair of the Tarrant chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus, said the group is pushing for a statewide ban like that of the red light cameras that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed in 2019.<\/p>\n Similar to the movement against red light cameras, Palmer said several groups are creating a grassroots effort to end mass surveillance from Flock cameras.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want them,\u201d Palmer said. \u201cWe don\u2019t think that they have a place in a free society, just to be constantly monitored.\u201d<\/p>\n Palmer said the focus should instead be on government accountability.<\/p>\n Last week, DeFlock Fort Worth and DeFlock DFW sent a resolution to the county commissioners in hopes that it would be added to the agenda for their meeting Tuesday.<\/p>\n The resolution proposed by the groups would end the county\u2019s spending, contracts, property use and grants for mass surveillance systems like Flock, DeFlock Fort Worth founder Steven Lawrence said. It would terminate the county\u2019s cameras and any contract the county has to access the Flock database.<\/p>\n Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn came in front of the commissioners court on Sept. 2 and told them he believes Flock cameras are the county\u2019s most valuable law enforcement tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n From January 2025 to August 2026, the Sheriff\u2019s Office has recovered 259 stolen vehicles, identified a capital murder suspect and intervened in multiple instances of drug trafficking, Waybourn said. The Fort Worth Police Department has made about 2,200 serious arrests in six years thanks to Flock cameras, he added. Tarrant County has had about 800, Waybourn said.<\/p>\n The Tarrant County Commissioners Court agenda for Tuesday notably does not include the resolution, but Lawrence said the group will keep pushing for the resolution through public comment. They are also asking for a charter amendment from the city of Fort Worth.<\/p>\n \u201cNot getting the resolution on the agenda for next Tuesday is just the beginning of an effort, not the end of one,\u201d Lawrence said.<\/p>\n
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