Texas Stops Buying Flock Cameras While DPS Keeps 940 Of Them Watching

AUSTIN—Gov. Greg Abbott has blocked Texas agencies from spending more money on Flock surveillance cameras, and the Department of Public Safety will honor that restriction by continuing to operate at least 940 cameras it already has.

The existing network compiled roughly 615,000 searches in June, according to a Texas Tribune review, an average of one every four seconds. Forty-eight percent came from outside Texas, and 2,679 of the 3,075 agencies using the system were based in other states. DPS officers accounted for just under 9 percent of the searches, allowing Texas equipment to provide a generous national service.

DPS had previously said access was limited to departments with signed agreements. The Tribune found more than 2,800 agencies without those agreements had searched the network. After reporters asked about the difference, DPS announced that future searches would be limited to agencies that had signed. The safeguard was present in policy and will now receive the additional protection of being present in practice.

The governor’s order pauses new installations by DPS but does not require existing cameras to come down. El Paso and Dallas are shutting off hundreds of cameras supported by state grants, while DPS says its network will continue serving legitimate public-safety efforts. The agency did not explain how recurring contracts will be financed without the state spending the money the governor prohibited it from spending.

Texas has therefore stopped building its surveillance system at the moment after it was built. Drivers may proceed with the confidence that no additional state camera is needed to preserve the view already available every four seconds.