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By Rich Percival
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Voters in a Texas city have rejected the continued use of Flock surveillance cameras by their police department, delivering a setback to the license plate-reading technology amid a wider debate over privacy and public safety.
Unofficial results from a November 3 referendum in League City, a Houston suburb, showed a majority opposed keeping the system, with 25,436 people voting against the use of the cameras and 21,673 voting for. The city operates 55 AI-powered cameras along public roads.
Although the ballot question was advisory, the League City City Council had committed before the vote to act on the outcome.
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An October resolution set out steps to remove or cover the city’s cameras if residents voted against their continued use.
A National Debate
The result puts voters directly into a national argument over how much information police should collect about people traveling on public roads.
The cameras compile vehicle information into a database accessible to law enforcement nationwide.
The use of Flock cameras has been widely discussed across the state over the course of the 2026 campaign season.
Supporters describe automated license plate readers as valuable investigative tools.
But critics question whether the collection and sharing of vehicle movements creates disproportionate privacy risks, including for people who are not suspected of committing a crime.
Several police departments in Texas have arrested officers or launched investigations into alleged misuse of Flock data.
League City’s vote also illustrates the distinction between public acceptance of a technology and its usefulness to investigators: residents were asked whether the system should continue operating, rather than whether it could help solve cases.
What To Know
Proposition A asked eligible voters among the city's 120,000 residents: “As a nonbinding statement of voter preference, should the League City Police Department continue using automated license plate reader cameras at fixed locations on public roadways for law enforcement purposes?”
The council’s subsequent resolution outlined what should happen after a majority “no” vote, including removing or covering city cameras within 72 hours of certification of election results.
The cameras photograph passing vehicles and record information including their plates, vehicle characteristics, and the location and time of a sighting.
Investigators can search those records, while the systems can generate alerts when a vehicle matches a designated database entry.
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Records were available to over 400 agencies, with 200 uses of the system per month by local police, according to the Texas Tribune, citing the League City’s Flock transparency portal.
The League City City Council unanimously agreed in October to abide by the referendum result, despite its nonbinding wording.
Its election report described the returns as unofficial, with complete results from Galveston County and incomplete results from Harris County.
Newsweek has reached out to the city council by email for more details on the result.
Voters in Maine City Also Back Camera Ban
Voters in York, Maine, also approved a Flock camera ban.
The citizen-led measure called for the town’s automated license plate readers to be decommissioned and removed, while requiring voter approval for future surveillance technology installations.
The initiative reached the ballot after residents signed a petition.
York had already paused its use of Flock cameras while awaiting the referendum. League City continued operating its system in the run-up to the election.
'Passion on Both Sides'
Before the election, League City Mayor Nick Long acknowledged both the investigative benefits and the privacy concerns surrounding the cameras.
“They definitely work, and they definitely have privacy concerns,” he told a city council meeting.
In an interview with the Texas Tribune before the vote, Long explained he introduced the resolution to put the question before voters because he saw residents of all political stripes on each side of the argument.
“There’s passion on both sides of the issue, and felt it was best to put it out there."
Long also cited the recovery of a missing 15-year-old as an example of the system’s investigative value.
Flock Safety said it would respect League City’s decision and pointed to investigations in which its technology had assisted police.
“While we understand there are questions on public safety technology, I would like to reiterate that Flock had a real impact on crime in League City,” Flock Safety spokesperson Courtney Terlecki said before the vote.
Newsweek has approached Flock Safety for comment by email about the result of the vote.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott in August moved to direct state agencies to stop funding Flock cameras. He also halted new installations along state roads.
President Donald Trump expressed support for Flock cameras, saying he likes the AI-powered surveillance technology because of its use by law enforcement.
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