Dallas City Council rejects proposal to end Flock camera funding
DALLAS - Despite public pushback on the controversial security cameras, the City of Dallas did not approve a proposal that would have ended funding for 300 Flock cameras in the city.
Dallas Flock camera proposal fails
What we know:
Dallas City Council did not pass a proposal to cancel a $1.5 million security surveillance program with Flock cameras.
Only three city council members voted in favor of canceling the contract. Dallas City Councilman Adam Bazaldua, who has been a vocal critic of the cameras, was one of them.
300 cameras in Dallas would have been turned off if the proposal had passed.
What they're saying:
Councilman Bazaldua said he's not opposed to the technology, but raised concerns about a "lack of control" when discussing Flock cameras at Wednesday's Dallas City Council meeting.
"Flock's own chief legal officer has publicly admitted that officers tracking exes is the single most common form of abuse of their platform," Bazaldua said.
"This isn't because I want to prevent DPD from doing anything. This is because it's been done across the country, and there is a lack of control for this to have been abused, and I would hate for that to be something that we heard happened within our own department."
Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn didn't support the resolution because she didn't want the measure to become "Defund the Police 2.0".
"This seems to be the most important investigative tool that I've seen. I think, although our violent crime plan is great, part of our violent crime plan has been using Flock to help solve cases," Mendelsohn said.
Dallas Police officials who spoke at the Wednesday council meeting said the Flock cameras run 13,000 searches per week, but only between 2,100 unique license plates. That data is kept for an entire calendar year.
"It's an extra tool to help us solve everything," Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said.
"We have been able to successfully follow vehicles until we get it into a very small area where we know is there. Then we can saturate the area with officers and find the vehicles. Otherwise, it's really a needle in a haystack in a city like Dallas."
Flock camera controversy
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Dallas police removing over 300 Flock cameras
Dallas has become the biggest city so far to get rid of part of its Flock camera network, and one Dallas City Councilman wants the city to do away with their entire fleet of the controversial cameras.
Dig deeper:
Flock cameras can read license plate numbers and other vehicle details before uploading them into a database that can be accessed by law enforcement agencies.
Officials say the cameras are vital to law enforcement, but across the country, surveillance concerns and abuse of the system have caused cities to turn against the cameras.
Last week, Wylie and Pflugerville became the latest cities to end their contracts with the company. Other cities and leaders across the state are also voicing their concerns with the system. Princeton Mayor Eugene Escobar Jr., last week, called on city council to reconsider using cameras that were obtained through a state grant program.
Yesterday, Dallas Police announced that they're turning 321 Flock cameras off after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott paused funding on the controversial cameras.
Dallas County has had issues with vandalism and damage to its Flock cameras.
What's next:
Dallas Police will turn off their 321 Flock cameras by September 15.
The city will still have 300 Flock cameras in operation after that day.
The Source: Information in this story comes from a Dallas City Council meeting and previous FOX 4 reporting.