City Council approved an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation to install additional license plate cameras in Frisco at an Oct. 7 meeting. The agreement was unanimously approved as part of the council’s consent agenda.
The license plate readers are meant to increase public safety and help the Frisco Police Department prevent crime, according to city documents.
The details
The agreement allows Frisco police to install these cameras on TxDOT intersections, such as US 380 and Preston Road. The cameras and installation fees are fully grant-funded by the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority and maintained by the Frisco Police Department.
The camera installation in Frisco is part of a $434,150 agreement approved by council in 2024 with Flock Safety, the security software company behind the technology.
Exact locations for the cameras have not been decided on yet.
How it works
The Flock equipment is different from red light cameras. Instead of trying to catch drivers running red lights, these cameras capture license plates and vehicle descriptions as they pass through intersections. The information is cataloged in a database accessible by police and deleted after 30 days, according to Flock Safety’s website.
The plate reading system cannot use facial recognition to determine who is driving the car, but it will pick up who the vehicle is registered to. The system also can’t be used for traffic enforcement or collecting data on vehicle speed.
