The city of Dallas has equipped areas of the southern sector with advanced surveillance cameras. District 3 Council Member Zarin Gracey “proudly” announced the installation in a Thursday press release.
The technology is being supplied by Flock Safety, a company that offers a range of surveillance services. That includes gunshot detection, cloud-based video cameras, data integration software — and license plate readers.
And those vehicle cameras are now in District 3.
Gracey said in Thursday’s press release, the cameras “will be a game-changer in creating a secure environment for everyone in our community.
In other communities, the services Flock provides have generated controversy.
Last year, the Texas safety officials sent a cease and desist letter to the company for operating “as a private security business without a license,” according to reporting by the Houston Chronicle.
By October, Flock had received authorization to continue working in Houston.
In Virginia, two residents, along with the Institute for Justice, filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Norfolk, Virginia, “challenging the positionality of its massive vehicle surveillance system, which allows police to monitor the comings and goings of all drivers in the city,” according to the organization’s October 2024 press release. The institute is a nonprofit public interest law firm.
That lawsuit alleges that Flock's services make this type of surveillance “not just possible, but easy.”
“There are no meaningful restrictions on [The City of Norfolk, Virginia] officers’ access to this information,” the lawsuit reads. “Officers need only watch Flock’s orientation video and create login credentials to get access.”
In early February, after the city tried to stop the lawsuit from moving forward, a Virginia U.S District Court judge ruled that it could continue.
KERA reached out to Flock to ask if the federal lawsuit against Norfolk would hinder programs in other areas of the country — like Dallas.
Josh Thomas, a Flock spokesperson, said in an email that “there is no expected impact in Dallas or in other places around the country.”
Thomas added that “Flock operates at the will of the people.”
“Just Google ‘City Council Flock’ to see hundreds of reports of city councils debating and voting for the technology,” Thomas said in an email to KERA.
A different federal judge in the same judicial district in Virginia ruled that Flock cameras “aren’t so widespread they create an invasion of privacy,” according to reporting by The Richmonder.
Dallas officials did not immediately respond to KERA’s questions about the details of the contract. That includes how many cameras were installed or what kind and whether community input was taken into consideration.
In 2022, the Dallas City Council approved a $820,000 five-year contract with Flock. And last year, the Dallas Police Department issued a memo asking for support for an expansion of the services.
That request for 43 additional cameras and a one-time setup fee and increased “data retention” for existing cameras. That total was around $200,000.
Matthew Miller, a Flock account representative, spoke during an early-February symposium hosted by the Dallas Police Department.
Got a tip? Email Nathan Collins at ncollins@kera.org. You can follow Nathan on Twitter @nathannotforyou.
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