![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791864969_289_IMG_Fort_Worth_City_Hall_2_1_4AQB1TPC_L886718259.JPG\" "\\"The")
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The new Fort Worth City Hall on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.<\/p>\n
Amanda McCoy<\/p>\n
amccoy@star-telegram.com<\/p>\n
As local governments across America grapple with their relationships with Flock cameras,<\/a> Fort Worth is set to receive an update from its police department about the powerful surveillance tools.<\/p>\n The Fort Worth City Council is set to receive a presentation from the Fort Worth Police Department on Flock license plate readers at its work session on Nov. 17, a spokesperson for the city of Fort Worth told the Star-Telegram on Oct. 12.<\/p>\n The presentation was requested earlier this year by multiple city council members, including Chris Nettles and Deborah Peoples.<\/p>\n Flock license plate readers, used by law enforcement departments across the country, have become a flashpoint in national discussions about surveillance and accountability. License plate readers have been around since the 1970s<\/a> \u2014 but Flock\u2019s tech is more advanced.<\/p>\n Flock\u2019s \u201cvehicle fingerprint\u201d technology, according to a 2026 contract document obtained by the Star-Telegram through a records request, can see a car\u2019s make, color, license plate, state, missing or covered plates \u2014 and detect bumper stickers and decals.<\/p>\n The city also has a \u201ccommunity network access\u201d tool that allows feeds from privately owned cameras to be shared via livestream to Fort Worth PD.<\/p>\n Users can also look up the history of a license plate captured on Flock devices, and access state and nationwide networks of license plates.<\/p>\n More than 180 contracts with Flock have been cancelled, according to DeFlock the USA.<\/a> City and county governments have voted to end contracts with Flock, or remove the cameras that were installed.<\/p>\n Fort Worth has had a contract with Flock since 2020. Since then, police chief Eddie Garcia told WFAA, the technology has been used to make more than 2,000 arrests.<\/a><\/p>\n The presentation comes at a time when police departments and local governments are facing questions about how to hold officers who misuse the powerful technology accountable. In August, Wired reported that a police officer in Georgia<\/a> used Flock more than 50 times over three months to search for the license plate of a former romantic partner who was also a member of the department.<\/p>\n City council member Michael Crain said that this accountability was key to the details officials are hoping to receive.<\/p>\n \u201cSupporting effective policing and protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens are not competing goals\u2014we must demand both,\u201d Crain said in a written statement. \u201cAny new technology deployment must strictly dictate how citizen data is accessed, retained, and shared\u2014and mandate strict consequences for misuse.\u201d<\/p>\n Crain pointed to a 2024 drive-by shooting<\/a> and the 2023 Lake Como shooting<\/a> as crimes that were solved with the help of Flock technology.<\/p>\n