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Flock Safety Faces Bipartisan Backlash Over Police Misuse of AI Cameras
- Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all state agencies to pause funding for Flock Safety cameras Thursday night, with spokesman Andrew Mahaleris confirming state funds cannot support these AI-powered systems.
- Reports of misuse have exploded, with officers in police departments across Texas facing investigations in the past month. Earlier this week, Democratic Rep. Gina Hinojosa released an ad demanding Abbott "stop turning Texas into a surveillance state."
- The Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority has helped agencies install at least 3,200 Flock cameras since 2023. A state agency devoted at least $30 million to these grants, while the Department of Public Safety signed a three-year, $15.9 million contract.
- Abbott described a "crackdown" as cities cancel contracts with Flock Safety. The company stated it supports "thoughtful legislation" with privacy guardrails that preserve officers' use for public safety.
- Republican Rep. Keith Self proposed federal legislation requiring warrants before accessing data from these devices. Self argued the "Fourth Amendment right to be secure in their privacy does not disappear just because of new technology or artificial intelligence.
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County DA to address license plate reader issue
Chautauqua County’s district attorney has been receiving some criticism regarding some License Plate Readers, commonly referred to as Flock cameras, that were recently installed in the village of Fredonia. Those criticisms continued at Wednesday’s Chautauqua County Legislature meeting. At the meeting, both Pomfret Councilman Mike Lee and Fredonia Trustee Christine Cruz-Keefe were in attendance, questioning […]
Flock tracks your license plate. We tracked the $2M it spent on lobbying.
Flock Safety has poured more than $2 million into federal and state lobbying since 2025 as the fast‑growing surveillance company faces mounting scrutiny from lawmakers in both parties and privacy advocates over its ever-expanding network of license‑plate‑tracking cameras.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources92
Leaning Left18Leaning Right22Center38Last UpdatedBias Distribution49% Center
Bias Distribution
- 49% of the sources are Center
49% Center
L 23%
C 49%
R 28%
Factuality
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