Bandera council discusses Flock Safety cameras; staff to gather quotes and grant options

City of Bandera council members and staff discussed a possible pilot of Flock Safety license-plate readers and associated camera coverage during a meeting that included marshals' office input and follow-up requests from council.

Nut graf: The discussion covered operational needs, costs, privacy safeguards and grant prospects. Presenters described a subscription model with roughly $3,000 per camera per year (a four-camera subscription estimated at about $12,000 annually), 30‑day data retention, and limited access controlled through law enforcement with alerts tied to reported crimes.

What was presented and discussed - System design and cost: Council heard that vendors mapped three deployment options (small, medium, large). The small option proposed four entry‑point cameras to capture vehicles entering the city; estimated recurring cost cited in the discussion was about $12,000 per year for four cameras, plus a one‑time installation charge. The vendor representative noted the cameras read license plates and retain data for 30 days; alerts are tied to vehicle information connected to crimes or active investigations. - Operational use and access: Speakers described that alerts would go to law enforcement, not to a third party, and that Flock’s system is typically used in conjunction with local video sources when available. Council members and marshals discussed whether existing poles and recently upgraded officer laptops could be used to host equipment and handle data streams. - Privacy and controls: The system was described as scoring plate reads and alerting officers only when a plate matches a crime-specific query or watch list; the vendor representative stated there is limited retention (30 days) and law-enforcement-controlled access. - Funding and next steps: Council requested formal quotes, a map of proposed camera locations, an estimated upfront installation cost and ongoing subscription costs, and asked staff to investigate grant opportunities to offset recurring costs.

Why it matters: Flock Safety systems are used by many law-enforcement agencies to accelerate vehicle-based investigations and to track vehicles linked to crimes. For Bandera, a small deployment would focus on main entry corridors and could be paired with business cameras or dispatch workflow to support investigations; recurring costs and governance remain central considerations.

Next steps: Staff will collect multiple vendor quotes and site mappings, check for existing infrastructure (poles, power, data) that could lower install costs, assemble potential grant sources, and present a proposal that includes installation, subscription and maintenance costs for council review.