City of Lockhart denies proposal to install Flock cameras

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A license plate reading camera manufactured and operated by Flock Safety installed on a utility pole near Echo Lake in Fort Worth, Texas. (Cody Copeland/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

LOCKHART, Texas - This week, Lockhart City Council denied a request from the police department to enter into a contract with Flock Safety to install automated license plate readers around the city. 

The police department had proposed a new security system consisting of seven license plate reading cameras to be placed around the city with a yearly price tag of $21,000.  

Lockhart police say the Flock security system would help officers respond more efficiently and more effectively to public safety concerns, as well as aid in department investigations and crime prevention.  

Flock cameras are currently used in over 5,000 law enforcement jurisdictions across the U.S. But the technology has also been at the center of several lawsuits over improper searches and illegal data sharing. 

Representatives for Flock worked to alleviate any concerns, telling council members that they don't collect personally identifiable information, nor do they sell the data they do collect.

What they're saying:

"There’s inherent risk in everything, and we take that very seriously," said Trevor Chandler, Flock Director of Public Affairs. "That’s why we so strongly believe the balance of privacy and public safety is better in this system than any other system your law enforcement or even the city and county itself are using."

All images and data collected by the cameras would be owned solely by the Lockhart Police Department and sharing that information would be up to them. As long as the materials are not part of a pending investigation, they would be deleted after 30 days. 

Representatives for Flock say that retention period is standard, and that it allows law enforcement to investigate crimes that may not be reported immediately or at all.  

But dozens of community members spoke out against the technology, urging council members to refuse to allow the city to enter into the agreement, citing the potential for lawsuits, privacy and surveillance concerns, and the targeting of political dissidents, undocumented immigrants, and individuals crossing state lines to seek reproductive care.

The other side:

"Our rights are currently being chipped away just little by little at the federal level, the state level. I never ever thought that our city, our local government would even be considering something like this," said Jimmy Bertram, former mayor of the city of Lockhart. 

Lockhart resident Jessica Lockhart said, "Even if none of my concerns were valid and all the system did was provide an easier way to do policing, it still comes at the cost of our constitutional right to be protected by a warrantless search."

City staff first recommended that the council approve the agreement and later recommended that they table the discussion for another time. 

Instead, the city council passed a motion 6-1 to deny entering into an agreement to implement the Flock cameras based on the amount of public outcry.  

Mayor Lew White was in dissent. 

The decision by the Lockhart City Council was met with applause on Thursday.