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Residents press Richardson council on Flock Safety cameras as police defend use and safeguards
Summary
Residents spoke at length against the city’s contract with Flock Safety ALPR cameras, citing privacy and potential misuse. Police Chief Gary Tittle outlined RPD’s controls—20 city cameras, 30‑day deletion by default, CJIS access rules, audits and regional data‑sharing with 146 agencies—and council asked for clearer public audits and contract safeguards.
Dozens of residents urged Richardson leaders to halt or limit the city’s use of Flock Safety automated license‑plate readers, saying the cameras create a surveillance risk and calling for stronger public oversight.
"With this approved and continual contract you have created and enabled a surveillance state at the expense of resident privacy," resident Melissa Wark told the council, citing contract approvals and payments she said total about $210,900 to date. Multiple other speakers — including Patrick Bridal, John Davis and Ginny Laughlin — described concerns about data sharing, retention and the potential for misuse.
The Richardson Police Department responded with a detailed briefing. Chief Gary Tittle said RPD deploys 20 stationary ALPR cameras at 14 intersections and that Richardson‑generated ALPR images are stored on vendor servers but deleted by default after 30 days unless tied to an active criminal investigation. "We have 20 RPD stationary cameras deployed across 14 major intersections," he said, adding that access is limited to CJIS‑compliant sworn and investigative personnel and that searches must state a law‑enforcement purpose or case number.
Tittle described audit and oversight steps: monthly supervisor audits, AI‑flagging of anomalous search patterns, quarterly reviews of external agencies with access, and logs that record every external query. He said RPD shares data with 146 law‑enforcement agencies in the DFW region and with select federal partners (the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspectors) and that the department limits sharing and reviews requests.
Council members pressed for more transparency. Council Member Justice asked whether monthly audit findings could be posted on the police transparency page and requested a public certification that audits occurred. Council Member Corcoran urged a defensible sampling methodology for audits; Council Member Barrios asked for the list of agencies with access to be published. Several councilors asked the department to quantify how many cases the system has assisted; staff provided anecdotal examples of investigations aided by Flock alerts across violent crimes, missing persons and stolen vehicles, and said they are working to compile more formal statistics.
The city manager and the police chief outlined next steps staff would pursue: publish and refresh the list of external agencies with access, formalize audit sampling and publish periodic audit summaries, and seek written confirmation from the vendor that data deleted under contract is being purged. Council members across the dais emphasized balancing public‑safety benefits with privacy safeguards and indicated they expect follow‑up reporting to the council and the community.
