{"id":466160,"date":"2026-10-14T22:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T22:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/466160\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T22:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T22:16:14","slug":"el-paso-city-council-approves-further-flock-camera-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/466160\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso City Council Approves Further Flock Camera Restrictions\u2028"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <img width=\"1200\" height=\"904\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792016173_526_Flock_ALPR_with_Solar_Panel_Closeup_Facing_Right_Eatontown_NJ_July_2026-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-post-image\" alt=\"Flock camera\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\"  \/>        <\/p>\n<p>MiracleMiles, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<p>After voting last month to remove the city\u2019s Flock Safety cameras within 60 days, El Paso City Council members have now approved a resolution creating additional restrictions on any future use of the technology.<\/p>\n<p>The Tuesday decision follows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\/news\/el-paso-license-plate-cameras\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">concerns<\/a> regarding privacy and how information gathered by the technology is used.<\/p>\n<p>Powered by AI, Flock cameras <a href=\"https:\/\/deflock.org\/what-is-an-alpr\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">capture<\/a> details such as the make and model of a passing vehicle. They will also <a href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/state\/congressman-speaks-out-as-automatic-license-plate-readers-face-scrutiny\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">capture<\/a> any unique or identifying features.<\/p>\n<p>Police departments are able to access data from Flock without a warrant, which has raised concerns among citizens about potential Fourth Amendment violations.<\/p>\n<p>According to the meeting\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/elpasotexas.legistar.com\/View.ashx?M=PA&amp;ID=1443842&amp;GUID=0EEE6126-EA9F-43C8-9C4F-18DCBA00A37E\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">agenda<\/a>, council members unanimously approved a motion that halts the city manager from \u201centering into, executing, renewing, or extending any contract, agreement, or other arrangement\u201d with Flock Safety and any other automated license plate reader company.<\/p>\n<p>Local news outlet KFox14 <a href=\"https:\/\/kfoxtv.com\/news\/local\/el-paso-council-weighs-resolution-to-limit-fixed-license-plate-reader-deals\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a> that the motion does not apply to \u201chandheld or vehicle-mounted readers, or systems used for parking, access control or toll collection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Councilmember Chris Canales told the network that the city council would have to grant approval for any future return of the technology.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday\u2019s resolution follows a September decision by the city council, which <a href=\"https:\/\/elpasotexas.legistar.com\/View.ashx?M=M&amp;ID=1438138&amp;GUID=311EC2E9-C010-4038-B718-400EE54FD9C2\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">required<\/a> that all Flock cameras on city property or in city control be removed within 60 days. If full removal is not possible within the allotted period, the cameras are to be covered up to \u201cfully restrict their use.\u201d<br \/>\u00a0 <br \/>On September 30, the El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EPCSheriffsOffice\/posts\/-el-paso-county-sheriffs-office-to-discontinue-use-of-flock-safety-cameras-el-pa\/1559916512829090\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">announced<\/a> that the department would no longer utilize the technology.<\/p>\n<p>In a public statement, County Sheriff Joseph Roybal said, \u201cWe have the tools, training, and experience to locate and apprehend criminals without relying on Flock cameras.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur commitment to public safety remains stronger than ever,\u201d added Roybal.<\/p>\n<p>Gov. <a class=\"cd-autolink\" href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/directory\/officials\/greg-abbott\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Greg Abbott<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/state\/texas-hits-pause-on-flock-camera-approvals\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">directed<\/a> the Texas Department of Transportation last month to suspend issuing permits for both Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers on state roads.<\/p>\n<p>Comptroller <a class=\"cd-autolink\" href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/directory\/officials\/don-huffines\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Don Huffines<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/texasscorecard.com\/state\/comptroller-huffines-bans-grant-funds-for-flock-cameras-license-plate-readers\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> this week a ban on using grant funds administered by his office to purchase or contract for Flock cameras, automated license plate readers, and other covered vehicle-identification systems.<\/p>\n<p>State lawmakers are expected to address the use of automated license plate readers during the next legislative session, which begins January 12.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792016174_647_addie-writer-150x150.jpg\" class=\"avatar avatar-150 photo\" height=\"150\" width=\"150\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>                <\/p>\n<p>\n                        Addie Hovland is a journalist for Texas Scorecard. She hails from South Dakota and is passionate about spreading truth.                    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MiracleMiles, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons After voting last month to remove the city\u2019s Flock Safety&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139,19098,24336],"class_list":["post-466160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-flock","tag-privacy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}