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Records obtained by WBTV show Houston Police Department officers searched the Flock network that includes cameras at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte more than 183,000 times from March through May 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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With Flock cameras<\/a> continuing to fuel frustration<\/a> and debate across Texas<\/a>, a report out of North Carolina is raising a new question for Houston: Why is HPD searching a Flock camera network more than 1,000 miles away?<\/p>\n Records obtained by WBTV<\/a> show Houston Police Department officers searched the Flock network that includes cameras at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte more than 183,000 times from March through May 2026. HPD was the biggest out-of-state agency searching the\u00a0UNC Charlotte network during those three months, according to the North Carolina station.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n And those searches weren’t necessarily limited to Charlotte. WBTV found that when Houston officers searched a license plate through Flock, the queries often included more than 6,000 camera networks across the country.<\/p>\n Chron reached out to HPD for a statement but did not hear back in time for publication. However, HPD told WBTV: “The use of automated license plate recognition systems by Houston Police Department personnel is regularly reviewed. The department has identified usage that is being investigated further.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Legal experts weigh in<\/p>\n David Kwok<\/a>, a University of Houston Law Center professor who teaches and writes about white-collar crime, whistleblowers, public policy and law, and the social sciences, said the situation highlights a larger question about how far Flock’s surveillance network reaches.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “Flock is a national organization. They are a private entity, and they have contracts with so many different localities,” Kwok told Chron. “If you have access to this national database of information, that’s a lot of information.”<\/p>\n As for the legal question of whether Houston police can investigate people in another state, the answer is yes\u2014at least potentially, Kwok said. If Houston police are investigating a crime that occurred in Houston, the fact that a suspect left the city or state doesn’t automatically end the investigation.<\/p>\n “Just because someone has now left the jurisdiction, that’s not an obstacle,” Kwok said. “I mean, that’s a practical but not a legal obstacle, if you will, for investigation.”<\/p>\n “Flock is a national organization. They are a private entity, and they have contracts with so many different localities,” UH Law Professor David\u00a0 Kwok, who teaches and writes about white-collar crime, whistleblowers, public policy and law, and the social science told Chron.<\/p>\n NurPhoto\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n But Flock makes the question more complicated because police aren’t necessarily requesting records from another police department. They’re accessing data held by a private company through a network shared among law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Kwok compared it to requesting telephone records or information held by an email provider: The company’s servers being somewhere else doesn’t necessarily determine whether police can seek the information. Instead, the rules governing access can depend on the relationship between the company and the police department, he said.<\/p>\n How does Flock fit into all this?\u00a0<\/p>\n Flock says its system isn’t simply one giant database where every customer automatically has unrestricted access. During\u00a0a recent Conroe City Council presentation,<\/a> a Flock representative said each customer gets its own system and that sharing is turned off by default. Local law enforcement agencies decide whether to share their data, who can access it and how broadly.<\/p>\n UNC Charlotte told WBTV its cameras participate in a shared law enforcement network of about 1,600 agencies. When an agency searches for a specific license plate, the university’s cameras may be included in that query, returning the location, date and time of a detection if the plate was captured.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Currently, there have been no accusations of misuse of the UNC Charlotte Flock network.\u00a0<\/p>\n Why this matters in Texas<\/p>\n The questions are particularly relevant in Houston and Harris County, where Flock cameras have already become a contentious issue.<\/p>\n Harris County officials recently estimated<\/a> that roughly 4,600 Flock devices in the county have unclear ownership or access, although the county said the figure is not a verified inventory. Commissioners formed a working group to examine access and data-use policies rather than imposing a countywide pause.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Stay informed, and entertained.<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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