Highland Village Police Chief Doug Reim told the City Council on Aug. 25 how the department uses Flock automated license plate reader cameras and what rules govern the data they collect.

Reim's briefing covered the system's mechanics, privacy protections and departmental policies, according to a city news flash. He emphasized that ALPR alerts are investigative leads only. Officers must independently verify a hit before taking enforcement action.

The cameras use artificial intelligence to scan passing vehicles, uploading each plate number, vehicle model, color and even bumper stickers to a searchable database, according to Flomobee. Unlike plate readers mounted on patrol cars, the fixed Flock cameras also give outside law-enforcement agencies access to that data.

Texas has no statewide law governing how long ALPR data can be stored or who can see it. Each city sets its own rules.

Reim told the council the technology has helped officers with investigations, arrests and locating missing or at-risk individuals. But several key details were not addressed in publicly available materials: the exact retention period for stored images, whether Highland Village participates in any inter-agency or national lookup network, and what specifically triggers a valid search.

A Flock Safety spokesperson has said the platform requires users to enter a reason for every search and creates a permanent audit trail, according to Greenwich Time. Whether Highland Village's contract mirrors those standard terms has not been confirmed publicly.

The briefing comes as public opinion on the technology shifts. A Washington Post survey published Aug. 28 found more Americans now oppose law enforcement use of AI-powered plate cameras than support it. Flock says it operates in more than 6,000 communities across 49 states, running upward of 20 billion vehicle scans a month, according to Yahoo News.

Flower Mound, by contrast, has no town-owned Flock cameras. The town council tabled a proposed $133,750 Flock contract in May 2023 and never moved forward. Flock cameras visible in Flower Mound are owned by HOAs and commercial property owners, according to the North Texas Sun. Flower Mound Mayor Pro Tem Adam Schiestel wrote on Facebook in July that he has significant concerns about Flock Safety's data collection, retention, sharing and governance practices, including the company's contractual ability to use aggregated data for other purposes.

Nearby cities that do use the readers include Bartonville, Trophy Club and Lewisville.

Residents who want to know more about Highland Village's program can file a Public Information Act request with the police department for the Flock contract, camera locations, retention policy and search audit logs. The full council briefing is available on the city's YouTube channel.