GoKawiilFlock automated license plate reader (ALPR) camera. The Austin suburb of Pflugerville voted unanimously to disable all Flock Safety operations on Tuesday, August 25 amid ongoing privacy and data access conerns. SOPA Images/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
A Central Texas city and suburb of the state capital has disabled all of its Flock cameras and automated license plate reader systems amid recent concerns about privacy and access violations.
Council members for the city of Pflugerville, a suburb north of Austin, voted unanimously on Tuesday night, August 25 to end the city's agreement with Flock Safety, disable its 28 automated license plate reader cameras and remove access to the ALPR system. Earlier Tuesday, city staff members began physically covering up Flock Safety cameras installed around town.
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Here's everything we know about the decision behind the disablement.
Why did the city of Pflugerville end its Flock Safety service agreement?
In a statement released late Tuesday night by the city of Pflugerville and the Pflugerville Police Department, Mayor Doug Weiss referenced "recent revelations about the Flock system" as reason behind the canceled agreement. Pflugerville been been utilizing Flock ALPR cameras within the city since 2020, and a renewal agreement had been up for consideration on the city's agenda; that item weighed the continual lease of the cameras for two years "with updated privacy, security and data policies."
The city of Pflugerville disabled its Flock Safety cameras, including automated license plate reader systems, on August 25, 2026. Courtesy of the Pflugerville Police Department
"Public safety and public trust have to go hand in hand, and recent revelations about the Flock system have fueled concerns throughout the community; we can’t engage with organizations we can’t trust," Weiss said in his statement. "Council will continue to explore tools to support law enforcement, but any vendors the City uses would need to have the safeguards in place to earn and keep the community’s confidence."
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