Caldwell County approves adding three Flock Safety cameras; sheriff says data retained 30 days
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Summary
Chief Wade Miles told the court that adding three Flock Safety license‑plate cameras (for a total of five) would enable cross‑jurisdictional data sharing to help recover stolen vehicles and assist criminal investigations; commissioners approved reallocating SB 22 funds for the cameras and discussed privacy retention limits.
Caldwell County Commissioners Court approved reallocating SB 22 funds on May 28, 2024, to increase the county's Flock Safety inbound license‑plate camera deployment from two to five.
Chief Wade Miles described the cameras as inbound, license‑plate‑capture systems intended to give law enforcement data leads for stolen vehicles and other felony investigations. "That data is only kept for 30 days and it's an inbound camera only that catches the rear of your vehicle," Miles said, and he emphasized the system does not capture driver identities, read insurance status or issue citations for Class C misdemeanors.
Miles said neighboring counties have found two‑camera systems insufficient for data mining and that additional cameras enable cross‑jurisdictional sharing of hits on stolen vehicles. He said county policy limits access and retention: data is retained up to 30 days unless a criminal nexus and investigatory justification extend its use for a specific investigation.
Commissioners discussed the privacy protections and retention limits before approving the reallocation by motion and voice vote. The court directed staff to finalize the procurement and any required agreement language.
