The Wylie City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday not to renew its contract with Flock Safety, putting the city’s six automated license plate reader cameras on track to shut down when the current agreement expires in October.
Wylie has used the cameras since August 2024 and pays about $27,000 per year for six devices, according to Wylie Police Department figures reported by CBS Texas.
Mayor Matthew Porter acknowledged the technology’s crime-fighting value but raised concerns about how the data can be stored and shared with other agencies.
“I think that it is a great tool when you guys are legitimately trying to solve cases. My concern is all of that data is being stored and shared with a lot of other departments,” Porter said during Tuesday’s meeting, CBS Texas reported.
Assistant Police Chief Tommy Walters told the council that Flock cameras have helped officers solve cases, including a murder earlier this year. “We can do more with less, because of technologies like this,” Walters said, according to FOX 4.
Walters said after the vote that losing the license plate readers will create challenges for officers trying to identify and apprehend criminals who come into Wylie to commit crimes.
“DeFlock Wylie” founder Austin Gregory led a petition urging the city not to renew the contract, gathering more than 700 signatures. Gregory said he believes license plate readers can be useful but wants more transparency and regulation around searches and access.
The decision follows a similar move in Hood County. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, county officials unplugged and covered county-operated Flock cameras after commissioners and residents raised privacy and mass surveillance concerns.
Hood County Constable John D. Shirley later told The Dallas Express that his concern centered not on a single camera, but on an interconnected government network capable of making vehicle sightings searchable and shareable across jurisdictions.
The debate also mirrors The Dallas Express columnist Mark Davis’ recent column, “Flock Camera Benefits Are Real; So Are The Concerns,” which argues that the technology offers real public-safety benefits while government access to movement data requires meaningful safeguards.
Wylie has not ruled out using Flock cameras again. The council also voted to hold a workshop to discuss a possible future contract if changes are made, FOX 4 reported.
