Flock camera use in the City of Plano has ended after a pause in state funding for local police departments to use the cameras.
Plano City Manager Mark Israelson shared this update at a city council meeting Sept. 14.
How it happened
Plano Police Chief Ed Drain said state funding for Flock cameras was cut after Governor Greg Abbott announced a pause in state grants for local police departments to use the cameras.
Drain said Plano has used Flock for three years, and had one year left in its current contract, which started with state funds. He said the city is waiting on additional guidance before deciding whether to use local funds for the cameras.
"We're more concerned about what's going to happen in the upcoming Texas legislative session before we put a lot of money into Flock that may restrict our use on it," Drain said.
The debate
Texas Governor's Office spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement to Community Impact that "there is a crackdown across Texas" on misuse of Flock cameras.
"In Lufkin, a police officer was indicted on 100 felony charges for misuse of Flock information. Other criminal investigations are underway in other communities," he said. "Almost all Flock cameras in Texas are used by cities, and those cities are increasingly canceling their contracts with Flock. To the extent that cities get any funding for those cameras, most of it comes from the federal government. To the extent any funding comes from Texas agencies, those agencies are clarifying that those funds cannot be used for Flock cameras."
Three Plano residents spoke at the meeting Sept. 14 regarding Flock cameras, which prompted the update from Israelson. Residents shared concerns about potential misuse of the equipment.
Connor Boykin introduced himself as a member of Revolutionary Front DFW, a local socialist advocacy group.
"[Flock cameras] have been abused time and time again," he said. "There will never be a scenario where these cameras can exist without being abused."
Drain said Flock camera usage has been successful in Plano, and the city's crime rate has been going down over the past three years.
"[Flock] has been a really good toolkit and if we can get it back, we would love to," he said.
Plano had a violent crime rate of 1.46 per 1,000 residents in 2025, per city documents. The city had a crime rate of 1.6 per 1,000 residents in 2023.
Looking ahead
Drain said Flock Safety will remove the cameras since the city is not currently seeking additional funding for them.
"Looking at how broad this cutoff was, it may take them a while to come in and get all those cameras out of there," he said.
Hannah Norton contributed to this report.
