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License-plate readers · Travis County

Travis County

Using license-plate readers · 5 agencies documented

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Austin Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety, Axon
Cameras
Count not documented
No APD-operated Flock cameras on city roads as of Feb. and Sept. 2026, per KUT. During the 2024-25 pilot, Spectrum News reported 40 fixed and 500 vehicle-mounted cameras; Straight Arrow News reported the city removed its 40 Flock cameras.
Contract
Flock Safety: $114,000 first year · to June 30, 2025 · approved by Austin City Council June 2023 · Community Impact reported $114,000 for year one and $244,000 a year after that if continued, under a five-year contract run as a one-year provisional trial. The program lapsed June 30, 2025. (Community Impact, June 8, 2023; Austin Monitor, June 4, 2025)
  1. June 2023 Council approved a one-year trial of 40 Flock plate readers for APD with seven-day data retention. (Community Impact, June 8, 2023)
  2. March 27, 2025 Council extended the ALPR trial, which had been set to end in March 2025. (City of Austin Public Safety Commission, June 2, 2025; Austin Monitor, May 21, 2025)
  3. May 21, 2025 A City Auditor review of the pilot (March-December 2024) reported about 75 million scans and 165 arrests, found APD largely followed policy, and said Flock's contract terms on anonymized data could allow uses beyond the city's seven-day deletion rule. (Austin Monitor, May 21, 2025)
  4. June 2, 2025 The Public Safety Commission recommended halting the program and auditing data sharing; its document says the audit found nearly 500 cameras installed as of April 2025 and names Axon Fleet 3 cameras alongside Flock. (City of Austin Public Safety Commission, June 2, 2025)
  5. June 3, 2025 City Manager T.C. Broadnax withdrew the renewal from the council agenda after a work session; the program ended June 30, 2025. Council members Siegel and Qadri opposed renewal; Duchen suggested a different vendor. (Spectrum News, June 3, 2025; Austin Monitor, June 4, 2025)
  6. Feb. 12, 2026 KUT found APD had obtained Flock data from Round Rock and Sunset Valley police within the prior month; APD said it can request data from other agencies but has no direct Flock access. (KUT News, Feb. 12, 2026; Straight Arrow News, Feb. 13, 2026)
  7. Feb. 13, 2026 Texas DPS installed Flock cameras on state rights of way in Austin on Feb. 2; APD said using that data is not its normal practice, though it could be shared in joint investigations. (Spectrum News, Feb. 13, 2026)
  8. April 23, 2026 The council's TRUST Act surveillance-technology directives took effect as city policy, requiring police to file a formal policy and disclose surveillance tools. (Community Impact, May 1, 2026; Straight Arrow News, Feb. 13, 2026)
  9. May 19, 2026 After a weekend shooting spree, Mayor Kirk Watson said he wants plate readers back under TRUST Act safeguards; staff had not yet made a proposal and no vote was scheduled. (KUT News (via KEDT), May 19, 2026)
  10. Sept. 8, 2026 Transportation and Public Works proposed plate readers for parking enforcement, with no vendor chosen; it said it would go through the TRUST Act process first. (CBS Austin, Sept. 8, 2026)
  11. Sept. 8, 2026 KUT reported APD has no Flock cameras and no direct access to Flock's searchable database. (KUT News, Sept. 8, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Camera counts differ: 40 fixed Flock cameras (Community Impact 2023, SAN 2026) vs. 'nearly 500' installed (PSC recommendation, April 2025) vs. 40 fixed plus 500 vehicle-mounted (Spectrum). The vehicle-mounted units are likely the Axon Fleet 3 cameras the PSC document mentions, but no source opened states that directly.
  • No source found on any council action after the May 2026 reconsideration; worth checking the council's agendas for the rest of 2026.
  • Some event dates here are inferred from weekday references (such as “Tuesday”) in news reports; confirm from meeting records.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Pflugerville Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
28 cameras planned in 2022 (KXAN); no 2026 count found.
Contract
Flock Safety: $87,500 per year · Annual lease cost of the renewal the council declined; end date not stated. (Community Impact, Aug. 26, 2026)
  1. April 26, 2022 Police planned to add 28 Flock cameras over six weeks, KXAN reported in May 2022. (KXAN, May 3, 2022)
  2. Aug. 25, 2026 Council voted unanimously not to renew the Flock lease after the police chief said he could not recommend it; a resident's review of audit records counted almost 1.6 million searches of city data by outside agencies from Feb. 16 to Aug. 15. (Community Impact, Aug. 26, 2026)
  3. Sept. 8, 2026 KUT reported the city had shared data with more than 400 agencies, 83 of them under formal agreements. (KUT News, Sept. 8, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Pflugerville lies mostly in Travis County, partly in Williamson.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Manor Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety
  1. Sept. 2026 Chief Ryan Phipps ended the Flock program, citing community concerns. (KUT News, Sept. 8, 2026; CBS Austin, Sept. 9, 2026)

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Lakeway Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
  1. Sept. 8, 2026 Listed by KUT among Austin-area agencies still using Flock. (KUT News, Sept. 8, 2026)

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Sunset Valley Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
  1. Feb. 12, 2026 Its Flock audit list showed APD among agencies it had shared data with in the prior 30 days. (KUT News, Feb. 12, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Status as of Feb. 2026; no later source found.
  • The only source is from February 2026; the agency was not on KUT's Sept. 8, 2026 list of area agencies still using Flock. Current status needs confirming.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. 2023 The Legislature unanimously passed a $1 increase to the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority fee on auto insurance policies, aimed at catalytic converter theft. The Texas Tribune estimated it raised about $81 million and found at least $30 million of it went to Flock cameras (at least 3,200 cameras) through grants; sponsors Sen. Carol Alvarado and Rep. Jeff Leach told the Tribune cameras were not discussed when the bill passed. (The Texas Tribune, Aug. 28, 2026)
  2. July 10, 2024 DPS sent Flock Safety a cease-and-desist letter saying the company lacked the private security license required under the Private Security Act. The complaint that started the inquiry was filed by a Baytown resident. (The Galveston County Daily News, Sept. 25, 2024; The Galveston County Daily News, Sept. 30, 2024)
  3. Oct. 2024 DPS licensed Flock, whose private plate readers served homeowners associations, businesses and homes. The Texan reported Flock kept operating those cameras while licensing was pending, and that a DPS report noted a 2021 finding of unlicensed alarm-installer work without indicating any penalty. (The Texan, Oct. 10, 2024)
  4. 2025 Two 2025 bills to regulate ALPR use did not advance: HB 961 (Rep. Brian Harrison; warrant or court order, violent-crime use only, destruction of unrelated data, published policies) and HB 2083 (Rep. John Bucy; 48-hour default destruction, no sharing with the federal government, private right of action). Both were referred to the House Homeland Security, Public Safety and Veterans' Affairs committee and got no hearing, per Texas Policy Research. The same source says Texas has no ALPR-specific statutory framework. (Texas Legislature, date not shown; Texas Policy Research, date not shown)
  5. May 2025 404 Media reported in May 2025 that a Johnson County Sheriff's Office search of Flock's nationwide network covered more than 83,000 cameras in a case involving a woman who had a self-managed abortion. Sheriff Adam King said it was about her safety, and Flock said she was sought as a missing person. EFF later obtained Flock audit logs and court records (reported Oct. 7, 2025) showing a first search of 1,295 networks (17,684 cameras) and a second of 6,809 networks (83,345 cameras), both logged with the reason "had an abortion, search for female," and an affidavit describing a death investigation of a non-viable fetus. The district attorney's office told deputies she could not be charged. (Electronic Frontier Foundation, Oct. 7, 2025; The Record (Recorded Future News), Oct. 7, 2025)
  6. Aug. 27, 2026 Gov. Greg Abbott directed state agencies to stop funding Flock cameras; spokesman Andrew Mahaleris said state agency funds "cannot be used for Flock cameras." Some outlets date the order Aug. 27 and others Aug. 28. Existing locally funded cameras are not covered. (Texas Public Radio (The Texas Tribune), Aug. 29, 2026; The Texas Tribune, Aug. 28, 2026; Dallas Express, Sept. 7, 2026; Good Good Good (The Texas Tribune), Sept. 1, 2026)
  7. Sept. 8, 2026 TxDOT stopped issuing permits for Flock and other plate readers on state roads at the governor's direction, including approved agreements not yet installed. Existing cameras, including more than 900 operated by DPS, were not affected. The Sept. 8 start date comes from a Schertz police presentation, not TxDOT. (The Texas Tribune, Sept. 17, 2026)
  8. Sept. 24, 2026 The Texas Tribune counted at least 900 Flock cameras shut off across at least 14 cities and counties since state funding ended. Dallas Express counted at least 23 local governments that ended, declined, suspended or reduced Flock use as of Sept. 6. (San Antonio Current (The Texas Tribune), Sept. 24, 2026; Dallas Express, Sept. 7, 2026)
  9. Oct. 5, 2026 The Texas Tribune reported agencies were charging large fees for Flock records or withholding them: North Richland Hills invoiced $2.3 million up front, Irving was reported charging $70,000, one agency quoted KPRC $121,000, and DPS stopped releasing search data and asked the Attorney General for a ruling. The Tribune counted 60 Texas agencies with Flock transparency portals, 16 of which publish search records. (The Texas Tribune, Oct. 5, 2026)
  10. Sept. 2026 A Lufkin police officer was sentenced to 5 years after pleading guilty to 100 felony counts of abuse of official information involving Flock searches, per the Texas Tribune. (Lufkin is in Angelina County, outside this assignment's county list.) (The Texas Tribune, Oct. 5, 2026)
  11. Oct. 9, 2026 Reps. Brian Harrison and Mitch Little said they plan to file bills to ban the devices in the session that begins in January 2027; Harris County Pct. 4 Constable Mark Herman has asked state officials to put Flock regulation on the agenda. (The Texas Tribune, Aug. 28, 2026; FOX 26 Houston, Oct. 9, 2026)

State agencies

Texas Department of Public Safety

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
940
At least 940 DPS cameras installed as of Sept. 2, 2026, per a DPS email shared by a lawmaker (Texas Tribune). DPS told KEYE roughly 900; Rep. Brian Harrison cited over 1,000. DPS does not publish a total.
Contract
Flock Safety: $15,900,000 three-year total · from 2025 · approved by Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority 2025 · Contract between MVCPA and DPS for 1,183 proposed cameras, funded by the auto-insurance fee. (The Texas Tribune, Aug. 28, 2026; The Texas Tribune, Sept. 4, 2026)
Contract
Flock Safety: $3,000,000 one-year · from Aug. 2026 · approved by Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority Aug. 2026 · Approved for 583 more cameras on seven toll roads; status after the Aug. 27 funding order not reported. (The Texas Tribune, Aug. 28, 2026; The Texas Tribune, Sept. 4, 2026)
Contract
Flock Safety: $28,500,000 total (term not reported) · The Texas Tribune reports a $28.5 million DPS Flock contract without giving term or funding. A Tribune/Waco Bridge story cites a $26 million Flock contract approved in 2025 for state roads and Operation Lone Star; the relationship between the figures is unclear. (The Texas Tribune, Aug. 28, 2026; KSAT (The Texas Tribune / The Waco Bridge), Aug. 3, 2026)
Data sharing
Per Texas Tribune reporting (not a DPS policy page): 206 Texas agencies had signed data-sharing agreements by July 2026; in June 2026 about 615,000 searches came from 3,075 agencies, 2,679 of them out of state. On Sept. 3, 2026, DPS said only agencies with signed agreements may search.
  1. 2025 The Texas Tribune and KSAT reported DPS cameras on state roads support Operation Lone Star and were installed under TxDOT permits. (KSAT (The Texas Tribune / The Waco Bridge), Aug. 3, 2026)
  2. June 2026 Texas Tribune analysis: roughly 615,000 searches of the DPS network in June; 48% from outside Texas; Houston police ran about 13%; DPS's own officers just under 9%; 111 searches cited immigration-related reasons. (The Texas Tribune, Sept. 4, 2026)
  3. Sept. 3, 2026 DPS paused new installations after the governor's funding order while keeping existing cameras in use, and limited all searches to agencies with signed agreements. (KEYE CBS Austin, Sept. 4, 2026; The Texas Tribune, Sept. 4, 2026)
  4. Oct. 2026 DPS stopped releasing search logs it had earlier given the Tribune and asked the Attorney General to let it withhold them; it has also challenged requests for camera locations. (The Texas Tribune, Oct. 5, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Contract amounts differ across outlets ($15.9M MVCPA contract, $28.5M separate contract, $26M 'Lone Star' contract); DPS contract documents not pulled.
  • DPS did not say how recurring Flock costs will be paid without state money.
  • Some event dates here are inferred from weekday references (such as “Tuesday”) in news reports; confirm from meeting records.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.