Police chief defends expansion of Flock license-plate readers, stresses privacy safeguards

Rowlett Police Department officials told the city council on March 16 that an expanded network of automated license-plate readers has helped solve violent crimes and property offenses while operating under departmental privacy safeguards.

Chief Moore said the department began using Flock ALPR technology in January 2023 with an initial 10 cameras, expanded to 20 in 2024, and is proposing further one-time purchases to fill coverage gaps. "We started with an investment of 10 cameras," Moore said. "We currently have 20 operable license plate reader cameras in the community." He added the department had been awarded "a little over $40,000" from a Justice Assistance Grant to help buy additional devices.

Why it matters: officials framed the expansion as a targeted investigative tool rather than continuous mass surveillance. Moore emphasized that the system turns camera images into text via optical-character-recognition and compares plates against watchlists; alerts are flagged on officers' mobile data terminals but must be verified by an officer before any enforcement action. "All information gathered through ALPR requires verification via the investigative officer before enforcement action can be taken," Moore said.

Privacy and policy: the presenters repeatedly told the council the department's ALPR use policy includes audit logs and role-based access. "License plate data is retained for only 30 days," Moore said. He stated the system "does not employ facial recognition," and that officer logins and the investigative purpose for searches are recorded so supervisors can review who searched which plate and why.

Access, partners and limits: Moore said RPD shares and receives ALPR data with many Texas agencies and with one federal partner, the U.S. Postal Service, but that federal agencies cannot access local data without RPD approval. He also noted vendor-driven limits imposed after litigation in another state had temporarily restricted nationwide searching.

Effect on investigations: assistant Duke Demours described several cases he said were aided by ALPR: suspects located within 24 hours in a 2023 homicide, vehicle-travel patterns established across jurisdictions in another murder case, a rapid apprehension in an aggravated-assault investigation, and a counterfeit-goods probe that led to substantial seizures. "We've used Flock well over 1,000 times," Demours said, and staff said the system had assisted roughly 536 investigations.

Council concerns and technical safeguards: council members raised questions about automated analysis and future AI capabilities, the possibility of linking consumer cameras, and cyber-security risks. A network administrator told the council the system and vendor communications are encrypted and that access is audited. Moore and staff said proposed PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) live-video feeds would be governed by policy and could be configured so department directors have view-only access while only trained RPD staff could exercise control.

Budget and next steps: staff said the FY26 general fund includes money to expand the system (the packet referenced a $56,000 general-fund allocation) and that the grant and one-time funds would be used for a trial run; the city would assess recurring costs before making any long-term funding commitments. Moore said the presentation was informational and that no new recurring appropriation was being requested at this meeting.

The council did not take formal action on the item; staff said they would proceed with the trial expansion and return with further recommendations on ongoing funding if warranted.