Council approves license-plate readers and first‑responder drone purchases, mostly grant-funded

The San Angelo City Council approved two items to expand police technology: a master agreement with The Flock Group Inc. for license-plate readers and drone first‑responder technology and a multiple-use agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation to allow placement of Flock cameras on state right-of-way within city limits. The council approved the measures 7-0.

Travis (San Angelo Police Department) told the council most of the $309,050 cost will be covered by grants from the Texas Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority and other sources. "This is gonna be majority of it's gonna be funded through the grant," he said, noting the city expects roughly 87% grant coverage and about $77,000 net local exposure.

The police said the drone is intended as a force multiplier: rapid aerial assessment during major incidents and real‑time situational awareness for officers. "The drone as first responder is a force multiplier," the presenter said, adding the system can provide a bird’s‑eye view for field supervisors within about 45 seconds. License‑plate readers were described as a tool to detect stolen vehicles or vehicles associated with missing persons or Amber Alerts and to send near‑instant alerts to officers in the field.

Privacy and use: Councilmembers raised privacy concerns at public meetings and town halls. The presenter emphasized that the systems provide real‑time human‑reviewed alerts and that the city will not use automated AI to autonomously investigate residents’ movements. "There's not we're not applying an artificial intelligence to come in and and solve the case for us. This is human eyes that's sourcing that data at the time of a crime," he said.

Deployment: Through three grants the city anticipates placing around 42 cameras across Tom Green County in collaboration with the sheriff’s office and other partners. The council approved the agreements and the city manager was authorized to execute related documents.

Vote and next steps: The council approved the purchase and the TxDOT agreement 7-0. Proponents said the purchase is time-limited by grant windows; staff said they will proceed with procurement and coordinate placement and training if the city manager executes the contracts.