Texas Governor Greg Abbott has frozen state spending on additional Flock surveillance cameras, interrupting a program that put more than $30 million into the company’s network. The cameras use automated license-plate recognition to record vehicles and make their movements searchable.
A Texas Tribune investigation found that most of the state funding came from a $1 fee added to insurance policies, ostensibly to combat catalytic-converter theft. The freeze arrives as cities in Texas and elsewhere cancel Flock contracts and lawmakers from both parties question how the systems are used.
Privacy concerns extend beyond the cameras’ basic function. Officers have been suspended or criminally charged in several cases involving alleged misuse of Flock systems, including at least six incidents in Texas. The company has also faced scrutiny over data sharing, cameras placed near playgrounds, employee access to feeds, unsecured video streams and resistance to public-record requests.
Abbott’s Democratic opponent, Gina Hinojosa, has criticized his earlier expansion of the network. Republican Representative Keith Self has also opposed the technology on Fourth Amendment grounds. The funding halt does not itself remove cameras already deployed, but it blocks state money from expanding the network while political and privacy disputes continue.