Texas freezes installation of Flock cameras along state roads

At Gov. Greg Abbott’s direction, the Texas Department of Transportation has stopped issuing permits allowing Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers to be installed along state roads.

The pause, confirmed Thursday by an agency spokesperson, does not affect cameras already installed along state rights-of-way, including more than 900 cameras operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“TxDOT’s role is to review permits to ensure license plate readers are installed correctly and safely along state-owned roadways,” an agency spokesperson said in a statement. “This suspension also includes agreements that are approved but not yet installed.”

TxDOT clarified that it approves permits for the cameras but does not install the devices, nor does the agency have access to data from Flock cameras installed along state roads.

A presentation about Flock cameras from the police chief in Schertz, a city northeast of San Antonio, said the pause began Sept. 8. TxDOT did not immediately confirm when the pause began.

Use of the cameras, which scan all passing vehicles to compile license plate numbers and other identifying data into an easily searched database, has raised mounting privacy concerns.

TxDOT’s pause followed Gov. Greg Abbott’s late August order blocking state funding for Flock cameras as The Texas Tribune prepared to publish an investigation into a small state agency that directed at least $30 million to help fund more than 3,200 Flock cameras across Texas.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Aug. 31 ordered his state’s transportation department to remove the cameras from state roads, saying he didn’t want “a surveillance state.”

There were an estimated 13,000 Flock cameras across Texas in August, but hundreds of the devices have been shut down after Abbott’s funding freeze.

City councils and county commissions across the state have also been unplugging their cameras in response to pressure from residents who cite privacy concerns and a growing number of police who were arrested or investigated for misusing Flock cameras to stalk people.

Law enforcement agencies have defended the cameras as a highly effective crime-solving tool that can be effective in reducing vehicle theft and locating missing people.

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This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.