DeFlock Houston

News

Sourced from public records, council/board minutes, and local and national reporting. Have a correction or an update we're missing? Let us know.

Houston Area

Harris, Montgomery, and Fort Bend counties

Updates
Sept. 2026

Harris County, special meeting set for Oct. 15

County Judge Lina Hidalgo has scheduled a 9 a.m. special Commissioners Court meeting for October 15 to hear from the public, law enforcement, and Flock Safety vendors, after the Court quietly passed a $2 million, one-year contract extension through June 2027 that she abstained from. The Sheriff's Office has quoted $121,000 just to produce records on how the system is used.

Source: Click2Houston →
Updates
Oct. 2025

Harris County MUD 358, constable given real-time access

Commissioners Court approved an agreement letting Harris County Constable Precinct 4 access real-time data from Flock cameras purchased by the MUD.

Source: Harris County Legistar →
Abuse
Dec. 2025-June 2026

Deer Park, 165 searches on one plate, no case

An internal audit found Officer Brandon Williams searched one license plate 165 times over seven months for reasons unrelated to any police investigation. He admitted the searches were based on personal concerns and acknowledged the use violated department policy. Suspended 10 days and reassigned to patrol.

Abuse
2026

Baytown, three deputies, access cut after a reporter asked

Three deputies had their Flock access revoked after a reporter's records request surfaced questions about their search activity.

Abuse
May 29, 2026

Montgomery County constable deputy, fired and arrested

Louis Norman, a two-year Precinct 3 Constable's Office deputy, was fired and arrested for misuse of official information, a third-degree felony. He allegedly searched names, addresses, and license plate information to stalk a former girlfriend.

Updates
Nov. 3, 2026

League City, camera question going to voters

City Council placed a non-binding referendum on the ballot asking whether police should keep using fixed Flock cameras; the mayor says the city would negotiate removal if voters say no.

Source: City of League City →
Updates
Sept. 9, 2026

Willis (Montgomery County), whole network shut off

Mayor William Brown said the city's "tools and technology must be appropriately reviewed," part of a wave that also hit Pflugerville, Bastrop, Elgin, Manor, and Leander.

Read the story →
Updates
Sept. 8, 2026

Manvel, council votes 6-0 to end its contract

After an hours-long public hearing, council voted unanimously to end the city's Flock contract, covering all 16 cameras within 24 to 48 hours.

Read the story →
Updates
2026

Magnolia (Montgomery County), contract canceled

The city announced it would not renew its Flock contract. Mayor Chris Blair cited public trust alongside public safety.

Source: Houston Chronicle →
Updates
Verified Sept. 2026

Montgomery ISD Police Department, confirmed Flock use

Public-record data identifies the district's police department as a Flock ALPR user; procurement details (cost, camera count, board vote) haven't been located yet.

Source: Are You Flocked? →
Updates
Jan.–Feb. 2026

Montgomery County MUD 94, proposal deferred

The board considered a Flock proposal at a special meeting, discussed cost with a county constable and Flock reps, and twice deferred taking action.

Source: MC MUD 94 board minutes →
Updates
Oct. 2026

Conroe residents petition for a special election

James Fletes, who's been pushing to end Conroe's Flock contract since this summer, is now gathering roughly 1,300 signatures on a citizen-drafted ordinance to force a special election, after City Council voted against putting the question on the November ballot itself.

Source: Houston Chronicle →
Texas

Statewide news

At least 56 Texas cities and counties deactivated, rejected, or canceled Flock contracts in 2026 alone.

Updates
Sept. 17, 2026

El Paso, contract ends, cameras ordered removed

The city ended its Flock contract and ordered the cameras removed, also restricting future fixed ALPR networks.

Updates
Sept. 16, 2026

Plano, contract expires

Plano's Flock contract expired and cameras are being removed.

Updates
Aug. 26, 2026

Pflugerville, all 28 cameras shut off

City council voted unanimously to terminate its Flock agreement after discovering non-partner law enforcement agencies had unauthorized access to the city's camera data.

Read the story →
Updates
Aug. 27, 2026

Wylie, contract ends 7-0

City council voted unanimously not to renew. Mayor Matthew Porter cited "misuse by other departments" that partner with the city as his core concern.

Read the story →
Updates
Aug. 27-28, 2026

Gov. Abbott orders state agencies to stop funding Flock

Amid growing privacy and misuse concerns, the state has already put at least $30 million behind the network since 2023.

Read the story →
Updates
Oct. 2, 2026

Flock offers to self-fund cameras through the freeze

Betting Abbott restores funding after the election, Flock is covering 90 days of payments itself so agencies like Dallas, Addison, New Braunfels, and Johnson County can keep state-grant-funded cameras running, with no penalty to exit if funding doesn't return.

Read the story →
Abuse
2026

A nationwide search, no warrant, "had an abortion"

A Texas sheriff's office used Flock's "National Lookup" tool to search over 6,800 networks and 83,000+ cameras nationwide for a woman based on the query "had an abortion, search for female," including cameras in states where abortion remains legal.

Read the story →
USA

Errors, abuse, and Congress taking notice

Flock's surveillance network has drawn direct scrutiny from both chambers of Congress over the past few weeks.

Legal
Tulsa County, OK · Oct. 2026

Federal judge: Flock search was "indiscriminate mass surveillance"

A Tulsa County deputy used Flock and VehicleManager to pull 50+ location records on a California-plated car over roughly 30 days with no warrant and no individualized suspicion. U.S. District Judge Sara Hill ruled it an unconstitutional Fourth Amendment search and suppressed the evidence. It's not binding precedent, but it's one of the first federal rulings to go against Flock.

Read the story →
Error
Los Angeles, CA · 2025

LAPD drops Flock entirely

An internal audit found 161 false stolen-vehicle alerts in two months, a 32.3% error rate on "hot list" hits. LAPD let its contract expire rather than renew.

Read the story →
Error
Roseville, CA · 2023-24

71% of high-stakes alerts were wrong

Of 1,427 alerts flagging vehicles as stolen or felony-linked, 71% were plate misreads. One driver was wrongly flagged six times. Flock advertises 99% accuracy.

Read the story →
Error
Florida · 2026

Lindsey Isaacs, 13 days in jail over a misread

A Flock hit near a fatal triple hit-and-run led to 8 felony charges and 13 days in jail. Her Durango had no damage; the real suspect, driving a different Durango, was arrested later. She went on to testify before the Senate about the ordeal.

Read the story →
Legal
Sept. 8-23, 2026

Sen. Hawley chairs a hearing on Flock

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism held a hearing titled "Always Watching: Flock's Nationwide AI Surveillance Network." Flock's own Chief Legal Officer had already conceded that "Americans' privacy should not depend on one vendor's good judgment, its current leadership, or its commercial incentives."

Read the story →
Legal
Sept. 16, 2026

Senators press Flock's CEO for answers

Sens. Adam Schiff and Ron Wyden sent Flock CEO Garrett Langley a letter demanding answers on how the company prevents officers from entering false search justifications.

Read the story →
Legal
Sept. 2026

Formal House investigation into Flock Group Inc.

Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robert Garcia opened a formal investigation into Flock over the abortion-search case above and similar reports.

Read the story →
Legal
Sept. 2026

Bipartisan "No FLOCK Act" introduced

H.R. 10366 would give states two years to limit ALPR use to five narrow purposes or lose 10% of certain federal highway funding, following a Washington Post investigation identifying 69+ officers accused of abusing these systems.

Read the story →
Legal
Sept. 24-25, 2026

Rep. Steube's FLAFO Act would require a warrant

Prompted by a Florida officer accused of running one license plate through Flock over 350 times, the FLAFO Act would bar federal agencies from accessing ALPR data without a judicial warrant.

Read the story →

Full case list and methodology: Institute for Justice.