Hood County Constable John D. Shirley warns that expanding networks of Flock automated license plate readers could let government agencies search and share records showing when and where cameras captured passing vehicles.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Hood County, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth, unplugged and covered its county-operated Flock cameras after commissioners and residents raised privacy and mass surveillance concerns.
Shirley announced Saturday that his office had finished unplugging and covering the county cameras and called on Flock to remove the equipment.
In a written statement to The Dallas Express, the retired Houston Police Department sergeant explained why he believes the issue reaches beyond Hood County.
Shirley said he does not oppose technology that assists law enforcement. During his 20 years with HPD, he saw why officers value tools that can help locate stolen vehicles, identify suspects and investigate serious crimes.
But he said the concern changes when individual cameras become part of a larger, interconnected system.
Concern centers on searchable networks
“The issue isn’t one camera taking a picture of a license plate,” Shirley told The Dallas Express. “The issue is what happens when a large network of government cameras can collect information about where vehicles are seen, when they are seen, and make that information searchable and shareable across jurisdictions.”
Flock markets its platform as a National LPR Network and says it gives participating agencies access to alerts and footage from partners across the country. The company says agencies choose whether and how to share their data with other jurisdictions.
“At some point, you have to ask whether we are investigating people suspected of crimes or is our government simply building a system capable of tracking the movements of everybody,” Shirley said.
Shirley said the debate should not fall along traditional political lines.
“That ought to concern conservatives, liberals and everybody in between,” he said. “Government surveillance power doesn’t become harmless just because the people using it today have good intentions.”
“Hood County decided to get out of the county-operated Flock system, and all county-installed cameras have been unplugged and covered while we wait for them to be removed,” Shirley said. “I believe that was the right call.”
Flock disputes mass surveillance characterization
Flock rejects the characterization of its technology as mass surveillance. The company says its cameras capture point-in-time images of vehicles on public roads rather than continuously tracking people or vehicles. It also says customers own the data and control access and sharing.
On August 13, Flock said it had changed its recommended default retention period from 30 days to seven days. Existing customers will keep retention periods approved by their local governments, the company said.
Flock also plans to require case codes for all law enforcement searches and Audit Assistance for all law enforcement customers by the end of 2026. It has introduced controls that allow agencies to limit shared searches by offense type.
Shirley urges Americans to ask questions
Shirley said communities considering similar technology should understand exactly how the systems operate before allowing camera networks to become commonplace.
“The biggest thing I’d tell people is to learn what these systems actually do and ask questions before they are installed everywhere: Who can search the data and under what circumstances? How long is it kept? Who is it shared with? What safeguards are in place? And what happens when those safeguards fail?” Shirley said.
“Law enforcement needs effective tools, but government also needs limits,” Shirley said. “We shouldn’t wait until a vast government-controlled surveillance network is built nationwide before we decide where those limits should be.”
Provided by Dallas Express
