Group calls for removal of Flock cameras
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2026 at 3:14 am
TYLER – There’s a growing push in East Texas to remove Flock cameras, and one group in Smith County launched a petition to end the use of these license plate readers, demanding action. The network of Flock cameras already spans thousands of communities and agencies across the country. De-Flock Tyler is concerned that with the creation of this mass surveillance network, citizens’ personal privacy is quickly dissolving all under the pretense of “public safety.”
“We don’t want this here; we are not okay with this,” De-Flock Tyler founder Robin Wright said. “This is a violation of our privacy; this is a surveillance state. It’s not okay.”
Created by a third-party tech company called Flock Safety, these cameras scan passing vehicles, capturing license plates, the vehicle’s make, model, and color, as well as timestamps, locations, and direction of travel.
On Flock Safety’s website, the company sites its cameras “capture still images of vehicles and their license plates, providing real-time alerts to law enforcement.”
Wright said she’s concerned this type of sensitive data isn’t being protected properly and believes this level of surveillance is a blatant infringement on our privacy.
“With this system, they don’t need a warrant on anybody,” Wright said. “It actively tracks every single person that passes it, every single one.”
Sharing these concerns, she’s collecting signatures on an online petition to show local and state leaders that she, along with more than 1,600 people, do not support the use of Flock cameras as a tool to keep their community safe.
“There’s no regulations on this technology because it wasn’t here before,” Wright said. “The fact is, it’s here now, and we have to fight actively to make those regulations a reality.”
Sergeant Clayton Taylor with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office said they use data and information pulled from their Flock camera network everyday.
“It’s been crucial to speeding up the investigations from the old way,” Taylor said. “It’s just another tool in our tool belt that we can use to do these investigations.”
Taylor said it’s used in a wide array of investigations in everything from Silver Alerts to hit-and-runs and kidnappings.
“I would say it’s assisted us with probably 30% of our investigations, including the property crimes, persons crimes, and human trafficking,” Taylor said.
Taylor explained that each officer has their own password and username, and everytime an officer logs into the system, the date and time are recorded.
“Any system that we use here at the sheriff’s office, there is oversight and any misuse of that will be investigated, and disciplinary actions up to termination could result,” Taylor said.
According to the crowdsourced map on deflock.org, nearly 100 active Flock cameras have been documented in Smith County, installed on both public and private property. Sergeant Taylor said each taxpayer-funded camera has been installed in a public area where citizens should have no expectation of privacy.
“It’s just like someone taking a picture of your car as you’re driving by; that’s not illegal,” Taylor said.
He encourages everyone to do their own research about this technology and reach out to him if they have questions or concerns that he could address.
“We’re not tracking people; we’re looking for vehicles that may be used in a crime,” Taylor said. “We’re not here to violate anyone’s civil liberties or anything like that.”
Wright also encourages everyone to do their own research, adding that what they’ll find are instances of surveillance abuse by law enforcement and wrongful accusations and detainments based on inaccuracies recorded in the Flock database.
“This has led to numerous, numerous, numerous wrongful arrests, either it’s that the plate is one number or one letter off from the actual person with the warrant, and then people are getting pulled over at gunpoint,” Wright said.
In October of 2025, Denver’s Nexstar affiliate, KDVR, reported about a woman wrongfully accused of stealing a package off someone’s front doorstep after police tracked her car using Flock cameras. She had to use personal DoorDash footage and doorbell videos to prove her innocence.
“This is a huge violation of our privacy, and this is not something that can just continue to go on quietly because we are not okay with this,” Wright said.
Wright plans to bring this petition to the commissioner’s court and other local leaders to urge them to reconsider their upcoming contract with Flock Safety.
KETK reached out to the company Flock Safety, which was unable to schedule an interview time.
