Municipal leaders in El Paso are preparing to decide the fate of automated license plate reading technology across the city. The El Paso City Council is scheduled to review a pair of proposals that could mandate the complete dismantling of the city's network of Flock Safety cameras and prevent local officials from entering into similar surveillance contracts going forward.
The two agenda items, formally introduced by Councilmembers Chris Canales and Josh Acevedo, are slated for consideration during the council's meeting on September 15. The measures represent a decisive legislative push to alter the border city’s approach to automated surveillance infrastructure on public land.
Under the first proposed measure, El Paso’s city manager would be instructed to oversee the full removal of all Flock cameras along with any related hardware currently positioned on municipal property. This mandate would cover equipment situated on public rights of way as well as any other properties under municipal jurisdiction, establishing a strict 60-day deadline for completion.
According to official agenda documentation, this directive would apply universally across the city regardless of who holds legal ownership over the surveillance hardware. The measure grants the city manager executive authority to carry out physical removals directly or coordinate the extraction process with Flock Safety or another designated entity.
A companion proposal aims to close the door on future automated plate-scanning partnerships. If approved by the council, the measure would explicitly bar the municipality from executing, renewing, or extending any contractual agreements with Flock Safety or comparable vendors for the purchase and deployment of fixed license plate readers.
To formalize this restriction into official policy, the measure directs the city attorney’s office to craft a binding resolution within 30 days. The primary objective is to ensure that the decommissioned Flock Safety network cannot be quietly substituted with an alternative vendor’s fixed, networked surveillance platform without explicit, subsequent authorization from the City Council.
The proposed policy outlines precise boundaries regarding what types of technology are affected. While permanently fixed network cameras would be prohibited, the measure does not restrict handheld license plate readers, systems mounted onto vehicles, or specialized camera technologies deployed solely for parking regulation, facility access control, or toll collection.
The debate arrives as local estimates from television station KTSM indicate that roughly 150 Flock cameras are actively deployed throughout El Paso. The presence of these devices has turned the city into a focal point in the wider debate surrounding the balance between public safety resources and individual privacy rights.
The upcoming council vote follows administrative actions taken earlier in the month by local law enforcement. In early September, the El Paso Police Department formally suspended its operational use of the municipality's Flock camera network, pausing active data collection and monitoring through the platform.
The decision by police leadership drew immediate commentary regarding community safety operations. At the time of the operational suspension, El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas voiced apprehension about the shift, cautioning that stepping away from the camera network could potentially lengthen emergency response times for officers in the field.
Elected officials, conversely, welcomed the end of the program. Councilmember Canales voiced strong support for halting the system in a public statement on September 2, arguing that the company had repeatedly demonstrated that it was untrustworthy and asserting that its technology remained inherently vulnerable to misuse and potential abuse.
Canales concluded his remarks by expressing relief that the municipal deployment had come to a close, characterizing the initiative as an experiment that had run its course. His position reflects an increasing skepticism among some local policymakers regarding the long-term viability and ethics of private surveillance infrastructure.
The local developments in El Paso mirror a broader wave of pushback across the state of Texas. In late August, Governor Greg Abbott issued a directive ordering all state agencies to freeze financial allocations for Flock cameras, citing mounting statewide scrutiny over mass surveillance practices and the potential for system misuse.
El Paso's impending decision also aligns with actions taken by numerous other local governments across the state. To date, at least 20 Texas municipalities and counties have chosen to "de-Flock," choosing to sever business ties with Flock Safety, reject incoming contract proposals, or take existing camera installations offline entirely.
Even with the growing list of jurisdictions scaling back their use, the surveillance network maintains a deep footprint statewide. Data from Flock Camera Locations shows that more than 16,500 Flock cameras continue to operate throughout Texas, with Houston maintaining the largest concentration of documented installations in the state.
When the El Paso City Council convenes on September 15, the outcome of the vote will determine whether the city joins the expanding coalition of Texas communities divesting from private automated surveillance or preserves a path for fixed plate readers in the future.
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