San Marcos council leaves Flock Safety contract to expire after months of public debate

Mayor and City Council

San Marcos, Dec. 2, 2025

The San Marcos City Council on Tuesday declined to take fresh action to extend the city's contract with Flock Safety, effectively leaving in place a staff-issued non-renewal notice while directing city staff to explore other LPR or camera options and return with procurement and policy recommendations.

Why it matters: The contract for automatic license-plate readers has been the focus of sustained public comment and city council consideration this year. Supporters say LPRs help investigators identify suspect vehicles quickly; opponents say the vendor's business practices, data access pathways and documented misuse risks outweigh those benefits and expose the city to legal and civil liberties risks.

What happened: City staff summarized the contract and grant history with Flock, tracing council actions dating to 2022 and staff amendments and procurement activity through November 2025. Staff said it issued formal notice of non-renewal to Flock on Nov. 20, 2025 and presented the timeline to ensure council could give policy direction before any administrative renewal.

Public comment was heavily weighted against continuing the Flock relationship. Dozens of residents cited privacy, civil liberties and misuse examples from other jurisdictions; several speakers urged ending the contract and removing cameras. Supporters — including local business owners and residents who cited a recent downtown shooting investigation — said LPRs provided rapid investigative leads.

Police and staff accounts: San Marcos detectives and command staff described how the department used a mix of city-owned downtown cameras and LPR results during an October homicide investigation. Detective Casey Tenant said city video captured the vehicle and LPR searches produced candidate matches that helped investigators narrow the search and obtain warrants; he emphasized that follow-up investigative work was necessary to confirm leads.

Policy, access and safeguards: Council heard that the department tightened sharing practices after earlier debates. Staff described a two-page external-request certification that outside agencies must complete to obtain data; since the new internal policy effective June 9, 2025, staff reported about 20 external requests and two denials. Councilmembers and members of the public pressed staff on whether Flock would change system features or limit external access at the vendor level; staff said some requested product changes have not been adopted by the vendor.

Council decision: Council members split on whether to authorize a short, time-limited renewal while the city pursued alternatives. Several members said they would accept a limited extension only to avoid an operational gap while a replacement was procured; several others said the city should not renew any part of the arrangement because of the vendor's track record and litigation risks. Because the majority needed to instruct staff to renew was not reached, and because a formal non-renewal notice already had been issued, the practical outcome is that the city's administrative non-renewal stands. Council directed staff to:

- Report back with options and a recommended procurement path (including evaluating existing city contracts used in parking and parks enforcement for potential LPR capability). - Provide timelines for a formal competitive solicitation and the estimated permitting/installation lead times for any new vendor. - Return with recommended contract terms that preserve local control of data and an option for early termination or prorated terms if a replacement is secured.

Money and timing: Purchasing staff said Flock submitted a renewal quote for roughly $43,000 for one year; staff noted that a yearlong renewal would count against the city-manager spending threshold and that any renewal pushing total contract value above the council approval threshold would return to council. Procurement staff told council the fastest path to a replacement would be to check whether existing city vendors (for parking and parks enforcement) could add LPR capability; a full competitive solicitation, review and permitting process could take six to 12 months depending on responses and installation permitting windows.

What's next: Staff will present options for (1) short-term contract terms that include termination provisions, (2) whether a different vendor could be on-ramped from existing city contracts, and (3) a full solicitation timeline if necessary. Council emphasized it wants early visibility into any contract language and asked staff to provide draft agreements before packet posting when possible.

Representative comments: - A resident who opposed the contract said the system "does not guarantee a better or safer future" and warned of privacy and misuse risks. - Detective Casey Tenant said the mix of city video and LPR results "helped us find the correct vehicle" in a recent investigation but noted that LPR results still require investigative corroboration.

Ending: With no majority to approve a renewal and a staff non-renewal notice already sent, San Marcos's contract with Flock will not be administratively extended; staff will pursue alternatives and return to council with an options analysis and recommended next steps.