All Flock automated license plate readers were removed from Burnet County due to two separate incidents where the cameras were destroyed or damaged.
According to an August 3 memo, “all fixed Flock LPR cameras deployed in Burnet County by the Heart of Texas Auto Theft Task Force have been removed. We had two incidents where our pole cameras have been damaged. One by cutting the mounting bracket [and] cables, and one by striking the camera and battery with a blunt object and cutting the cables.”
While criminal cases have been initiated, the letter said there are “no known suspects at this time.”
Burnet County had 11 Flock cameras installed in the county, according to data from July 2025.
Flock cameras are facing mounting scrutiny across the nation. The ALPRs utilize AI to scan license plates and save information about a vehicle, such as make, model, color, and any identifying information, such as cosmetic damage or bumper stickers.
Flock’s database is free for law enforcement officers to access anytime without a warrant, raising serious concerns over the potential violations of citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights.
While Flock claims that “[r]ole-based access controls, audit logs, retention limits, geofencing, and case-based search requirements are designed to constrain use, support lawful investigations, and balance public safety benefits with civil liberties protections,” there have been incidents across the country of law enforcement officers misusing Flock cameras.
In March, a former Milwaukee police officer was caught misusing Flock cameras to stalk a former love interest nearly 180 times. The victim learned about the stalking only after searching their license plate on haveibeenflocked.com, a database containing some but not all license plates cataloged by Flock cameras nationwide.
Incidents of these sorts have led to the creation of anti-ALPR advocacy organizations such as DeFlock, which provides the public with a map to every Flock camera location.
Flock’s CEO stated that anti-ALPR groups such as DeFlock are terrorists “whose primary motivation is chaos. They’re closer to Antifa than they are anything else.”
U.S. Rep. Keith Self (R–McKinney) spoke out against Flock in July, stating that “[i]f transparency is now considered a threat, we’ve already drifted too far from the principles of a free Republic. Mass surveillance has no place in America.”
Self has authored legislation at the federal level to put guardrails on Flock cameras.
The Rusk and Waller County GOPs have both passed resolutions that instruct lawmakers to limit Flock’s usage statewide and protect citizens’ right to privacy.
Texas lawmakers are expected to address the issue next year.
“Texas got it right when we banned red light cameras in 2019,” said State Sen. Bob Hall (R–Edgewood) in a post on Tuesday. “I led that fight because automated surveillance and enforcement had no place in a free society. Now it’s time to do the same with Flock cameras. Flock cameras collect and store information on millions of law-abiding Texans just going about their normal everyday lives. Texans should not have their movements tracked, stored, and searched without a specific, objective reason to suspect criminal activity. I will be prioritizing this in the coming 2027 session.”
The 90th Legislative Session begins on January 12, 2027.
