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The private Atlanta-based surveillance company Flock Safety has made national headlines as part of a growing local and national privacy debate, with 136,847 license plate readers mapped in the U.S. by national watchdog group DeFlock.
Some argue that Flock cameras are a valuable law enforcement tool. Others, like DeFlock, argue that the cameras introduce potential for misuse and are a breach of privacy.
“It’s more than what’s needed,” said Hannah Foust, a Carrollton resident and member of Deflock Carrollton, in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. “It’s like using a jackhammer to hang a picture frame.”
Law enforcement, however, has reported success with the technology. “LPRs remain a valuable tool for preventing crime, assisting investigations, and helping bring cases to a successful resolution,” said the Farmers Branch Police Department on their Facebook. Since January 2025, Farmers Branch has publicly posted monthly “LPR hits,” featuring success stories.
Jim Cline, a Carrollton resident whose neighborhood allegedly was the target of an organized burglar ring, voiced his support for Carrollton’s use of Flock cameras. “It would be no debate if a police officer was observing traffic and personally tracking license plates, communicating with their colleagues to observe patterns and identify male actors,” he said at a city council meeting. “The system leverages our officers’ time and is much more effective relying on the coordination with neighboring cities.”
Flock Cameras are AI-powered automated license plate readers (ALPR) that capture images of passing license plates, then cross-reference the license plate numbers with databases like the National Crime Information Center.
The cameras capture the date, time, location, license plate number and vehicle characteristics, and then the information is retained by the camera operator for seven days. However, the seven-day default retention was only recently implemented on Aug. 13. Previously, the data was retained by default for 30 days.
The Addison Police Department first introduced ALPR technology and optical cameras in 2018 with a pilot program, funded by a 2012 bond election. After the program’s success, the city of Addison expanded their LPR network using Vigilant Solutions in 2021. The initial program installed 20 LPR units at 8 intersections, and the expansion installed 60 LPR cameras at 23 locations.
In 2025, the Town of Addison decided to transition the existing LPR system to a three-year agreement with Flock Safety. The agreement includes Flock’s hardware lease, software access, maintenance, technical support, system upgrades and warranty coverage.
At the town hall meeting where the motion to transition to Flock was passed, Addison chief of police Chris Freis said: “Our current systems are just end of lifespan. They’re hardwired, the technology’s antiquated.” He said the new Flock cameras were rarely down and if they were, the system would automatically alert the police.
Beginning 2026, the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority (MVCPA) Grant Program covered 80% of Addison’s 65 LPR and 20 video cameras. Addison’s IT Replacement Fund funded the remaining 20%.
Addison’s Flock Safety FAQ states LPR and video camera data are stored for 30 days and then automatically deleted. Detectives can manually retain data related to crimes or ongoing investigations.
Carrollton first approved the purchase of ALPR technology in September 2010 after securing over $335,000 in a federal government-sponsored grant for transit-oriented development. At the time, the city purchased four PIPS license plate reader systems through an inter-local agreement with the Houston Galveston Area Council (HGAC), which was reimbursed by the grant.
In January 2017, Carrollton City Council approved the purchase of LPR cameras from Vigilant Solutions following a successful test program about 18 months prior with a mobile LPR trailer.
With it, the city purchased six fixed LPR cameras, a mobile trailer with two LPR cameras, the respective software and access to the National Vehicle Locator Service (NVLS) – Vigilant Solutions’ LPR database – for an initial total of $99,636 and the recurring NVLS cost estimated at $31,400 a year.
The contract was later renewed in January 2024 for a three-year period after the police department reported the technology to be an effective and valuable investigation tool.
In the same meeting, the city entered a $276,400 five-year agreement with Flock Safety, which included the addition of eight new Flock cameras.
By August 2024, the Carrollton Police Department made its largest purchase yet, further expanding its Flock camera network with a new one-year lease.
According to the Carrollton City Council resolution #6826, the 19 Flock cameras that the police department had “provide little coverage across the city.” 57 cameras were installed as a result, paid almost entirely for by the Texas MVCPA’s Catalytic Converter Grant. The grant was funded by a $1 fee added to Texas auto insurance policies.
In September 2024, the police department added four additional Flock cameras in a five-year agreement. By August 2025, the city effectively renewed its one-year lease using the same type of Catalytic Converter Theft Prevention grant.
Currently, Carrollton operates a total of 67 Flock cameras, according to the city’s Flock transparency portal. While a majority are funded through the state grant, some are paid for by city dollars.
Carrollton’s Flock transparency FAQ states data is automatically deleted after 30 days unless it is formally tied to an active criminal investigation. However, Carrollton’s Flock data can be accessed by numerous cities and counties across Texas.
Farmers Branch introduced ALPR technology in January 2019 with six Vigilant Solutions license plate readers. The purchase, which totaled $82,982, was made with the $95,000 the council had set aside in the 2018-19 fiscal year budget.
The camera network expanded in January 2021 with 14 Vigilant Solutions license plate readers. Like 2019, funding for the cameras came out of that fiscal year’s budget.
Then, in March 2022, the city purchased 12 more Vigilant Solutions cameras with $153,587 allocated from the city’s red light fixed asset account. The license plate readers were for two intersections, with one camera for each lane.
Like Carrollton, Farmers Branch signed an MVCPA Catalytic Converter Grant-funded agreement with Flock in 2024. The agreement allowed for purchase of 10 LPR cameras in addition to Flock operating software, video products and platform add-ons.
In 2025, the camera network expanded again with funding from the MVCPA grant, introducing 18 additional Flock cameras.
The Farmers Branch’s Flock transparency portal states the city currently manages 47 Flock cameras, with the bulk of the camera alerts in the past month flagging possible sex offenders’ vehicles based on information in the National Crime Information Center. Data collected by Farmers Branch’s Flock cameras is stored for 30 days, then automatically deleted.
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