The Los Angeles Police Department stopped using Flock Safety license plate readers in July 2026 as its contract expired, citing unresolved concerns involving data ownership, privacy, security and sharing. The move followed an inspector general review that urged a pause on new deployments and contracts until stronger safeguards were in place.
LAPD had 138 Flock cameras in the city, according to Los Angeles Times reporting. Department officials said they wanted clearer contractual protections governing who owns collected data and what happens to it after collection.
The relevance to Texas is straightforward. If an agency the size of LAPD can conclude that contractual language governing surveillance data requires additional protection, smaller cities should not assume that vendor defaults or generalized policy language are sufficient.
A constitutionalist approach begins with skepticism of delegated power. When a private vendor builds and operates infrastructure capable of helping government locate vehicles across jurisdictions, elected officials should know precisely who controls the records, which entities can access them, what logs exist, what happens when contracts end and whether future vendor policies can change practical access.
Williamson County cities should examine their own agreements with the same seriousness. The standard should not be whether Flock says its system is secure. The standard should be whether enforceable public contracts and policies meaningfully limit government power and protect residents when incentives, personnel or political priorities change.
Why this matters in Williamson County
ALPR systems are increasingly interconnected. Decisions made elsewhere provide useful evidence about the benefits, failures and oversight problems Williamson County officials should consider before expanding surveillance locally.
Sources
This article is original Wilco Liberty Project reporting and analysis based on the linked sources. External reporting is summarized and attributed; it is not republished.