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Stafford council approves camera contract after debate over cost and oversight
Summary
After a prolonged public comment period and staff briefing, the Stafford City Council approved continuation of the city's contract for Flock license-plate cameras. Residents urged stricter safeguards and questioned replacement costs; police described audit flags and limited query access to address misuse concerns.
The Stafford City Council voted Aug. 5 to continue the city's contract for Flock license-plate reader cameras after more than an hour of public comment and council-level questions about cost and oversight. Council members heard residents who said the cameras pose privacy and vandalism risks and also heard police describe cases that the system helped solve.
"It is very much a privacy concern," said Liza Madonza during the public-comment portion, citing news reports and research she said show instances of misidentification and misuse by officers in other jurisdictions. Multiple residents raised the contract's line-item replacement exposure, noting a packet figure of roughly $52,000 for the city's annual invoiced amount and warning the city could be liable for repeated replacement costs if cameras are stolen or vandalized.
City staff told the council the invoice for the current year had already been paid by the City of Stafford and that an East Fort Bend authority agreed to reimburse 50% under the current contract language; staff cautioned that pulling the item from consent could delay reimbursement. Chief Wright told the council that patrol officers, investigators and dispatchers may query Flock within the city's division while only administrators have broader, multi-district access. He described a newly enabled audit feature that flagged unusual repeated queries and said the department now requires case numbers or call slips to accompany queries.
"We got two flags on two officers," the chief said, describing the department's follow-up questions when the audit indicates an atypical number of hits on a given plate; he added that the department is evaluating whether only detectives and supervisors should retain query privileges.
Councilmember discussion focused on ensuring contract language and operational controls are clear and enforceable. After public and staff discussion, a motion to approve the camera item passed. The transcript for the meeting does not include a roll-call tally of the vote.
