Liberty Hill City Council members are weighing whether to continue the city’s contract with surveillance technology company Flock Safety.
The big picture
The city’s contract with Flock is set to automatically renew when the current agreement ends in October.
One of the products Flock Safety offers is automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs, that take photos of all vehicles that pass by. The company uses artificial intelligence to interpret the photos, tagging them with data such as license plate numbers, vehicle color, make and model, and other identifying characteristics, Flock Safety representative Ian Leslie said.
That data can then be searched and shared between law enforcement agencies.
Several Liberty Hill residents voiced concerns Aug. 26 about privacy, transparency and accountability.
Police Chief Jeff Ringstaff and a representative from Flock Safety gave presentations on Flock cameras and the city’s use of them, expressing support for their continued use.
Some context
Liberty Hill owns seven Flock ALPRs, Ringstaff said. Those cameras are located at high-traffic entry and exit points to the city along Hwy. 29, RM 1869, CR 279 and at the intersection of Hwy. 29 and US 183, Ringstaff said.
There are other Flock cameras in the area that are privately owned by businesses or homeowners associations, Ringstaff said.
Flock ALPRs have been controversial across Central Texas. Austin leaders adopted stricter oversight of surveillance technology in May and ended the city’s contract with Flock in June after public pushback.
Pflugerville City Council voted Aug. 25 to end its contract with Flock after the city and police department said in a joint statement that a problem with Flock’s operating system had allowed non-partner law enforcement agencies to access the city’s Flock data without permission. Pflugerville ISD suspended its use of Flock cameras Aug. 26.
What residents are saying
Several Liberty Hill residents voiced concerns about privacy rights, data security, potential misuse of the technology and more at the Aug. 26 City Council meeting.
“My concern is about transparency, accountability and oversight,” said Brett Marler, a Liberty Hill resident. “... I’m here because history shows that when governments adopt powerful technologies without strong oversight, problems do eventually occur.”
Multiple speakers said they believe the use of ALPRs violates civil liberties.
“Installing a network of tracking cameras sends the wrong message as to what our city prioritizes,” resident Amanda Young said.
Council member Jacquetta Thayer said some residents might feel safer if they are “not being surveilled.”
“It isn’t just about the camera system,” council member Tim Hennessy said. “It’s about a growing concern that technology is expanding into parts of our lives where people are not sure it belongs.”
Hennessy said that while the public safety benefits of the technology are readily apparent, he believes that privacy concerns cannot be dismissed.
“The freedoms we value are rarely lost all at once,” Hennessy said. “More often, they’re given away one reasonable step at a time.”
On the other side
Leslie said he believes Flock cameras do not violate residents’ rights, citing court cases in which judges have ruled that the use of ALPRs does not violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Ringstaff and Leslie both described ALPRs as valuable crime-fighting tools. Ringstaff cited four examples of cases in which he said the Liberty Hill Police Department used the Flock network to catch suspects, including cases of aggravated robbery, theft, leaving the scene of an accident and aggravated sexual assault.
Leslie also highlighted Flock’s partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and discussed a case in Georgia in which he said Flock helped to find a missing child.
“Before I was in public safety tech, I would see the Amber alert and that’s the last thing I’m really thinking about because it’s not my loved one ... so just put yourself in the mindset—if it was your daughter, if it was your son, if it was your loved one and that Amber alert was issued,” Leslie said.
Leslie said that 10,000 missing people were found last year and that more than 2,800 crimes are solved per day using Flock.
What’s next
Mayor Crystal Mancilla directed city staff to place an item on the next City Council meeting agenda for further discussion and possible action on the city’s contract with Flock Safety. That meeting will be held Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. in the City Council chambers at the Liberty Hill Municipal Court building.
