Flock Cameras in El Paso, Texas

The short version

El Paso, Texas installed about 150 Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras citywide starting in 2025, according to El Paso Matters and an August 2025 memo from Police Chief Peter Pacillas.

The police memo says the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority awarded grant funding for the project through the Auto Theft Task Force. It lists the cost for 150 Flock LPR cameras at $702,500, covered 100% by the grant award with no cash match.

In March 2026, El Paso City Council debated whether to let the Flock contract expire. El Paso Matters reported that the council voted 6-2 against a proposal that would have allowed the contract to expire and not be renewed.

What El Paso bought

The August 22, 2025 police memo says the El Paso Police Department entered into a contract with Flock Safety and that the contract began when the first LPR camera was installed on May 16, 2025.

The memo says the contract was valid for a 12-month period from May 16, 2025 to May 16, 2026. It lists 150 cameras distributed across regional command areas: 26 in the Westside Regional Command, 25 in the Northeast, 31 in the Central, 24 in Pebble Hills, 24 in the Upper Eastside, and 20 in the Mission Valley area.

That makes El Paso different from a small two-camera pilot. This was a citywide deployment funded through an auto-theft grant, with enough scale that renewal became a real policy vote instead of a minor equipment line.

Why the renewal became controversial

El Paso Matters reported that City Rep. Chris Canales proposed letting the current contract expire and asking the city not to seek state funding for Flock Safety cameras or any similar product.

Canales told El Paso Matters he did not doubt police officials when they said safeguards were in place. His concern was that failures by Flock to protect data in other cities showed there were too many unanticipated things that could go wrong.

The same article said City Rep. Lily Limon co-signed the agenda item, then said she may not want to end the contract after reviewing law-enforcement benefits and receiving assurances about data sharing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

What police said the cameras do

The police memo says Flock cameras help deter and reduce crimes such as auto theft, burglaries, and violent crimes by identifying suspect vehicles quickly. It also says the system can increase stolen-vehicle recovery and speed investigations involving vehicles.

For the Police Department, the memo lists real-time vehicle alerts, improved investigative efficiency, officer-safety awareness, evidence collection, resource optimization, pattern analysis, and audit logs showing who accessed the data.

The memo also says the Auto Theft Task Force had success stories using the system to locate stolen vehicles, make arrests, and return vehicles to owners. It gives one example of a murder suspect wanted out of Indiana whose vehicle was located in El Paso.

The privacy promises

El Paso Matters reported that Mayor Renard Johnson said he supported the Police Department's use of the cameras and said police had assured him there was no data sharing, license plate data was automatically deleted after 30 days, and the system was used only for law-enforcement purposes.

The police memo also says Flock stores data securely, auto-deletes footage after 30 days, and allows access only for legitimate law-enforcement use.

Flock's public FAQ says data from Flock Safety devices is stored and then deleted after 30 days for privacy and security. It also says customers own their data and that images and metadata are encrypted using AWS cloud storage and KMS-based encryption.

The data-sharing question

El Paso Matters reported that Flock said it does not work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement or any sub-agency of the Department of Homeland Security. The outlet also reported that data can still be used in federal investigations through local partnerships, citing reports, audit logs, and public records compiled by the Immigration Policy Tracking Project.

That is the core issue for cities. A direct vendor contract with a federal immigration agency is one question. A local, state, regional, or national network path that lets another agency reach city data is a different question.

For El Paso, the renewal debate shows why residents will ask for proof, not slogans. If the city says there is no data sharing, the council should be able to show current sharing settings, agency access lists, audit logs, search policies, hotlist rules, and written limits on outside access.

What other cities should copy

El Paso's useful lesson is that grant funding does not remove the need for public review. A system can have no local cash match and still create local surveillance, audit, retention, sharing, and renewal obligations.

Before approving a similar contract, a city should publish the full order form, grant terms, camera count, locations or location rules, retention period, sharing settings, audit process, user list, renewal deadline, and cancellation terms.

The city should also separate police outcome claims from governance claims. Stolen-vehicle recoveries and arrest support may be real, but they do not answer who can search the data, whether outside agencies can access it, or how residents can verify the system is being used as promised.

The bottom line

El Paso did not cancel Flock in March 2026. The council voted against the proposal that would have let the contract expire and stopped future state funding requests for similar cameras.

But the debate still matters because it shows how a large citywide Flock deployment can move from auto-theft grant project to public privacy fight once renewal appears on the calendar.

For other city councils, the El Paso rule is simple: if the program is big enough to install 150 cameras, it is big enough for a public renewal packet that proves cost, control, retention, sharing, audits, and cancellation terms before the vote.

Sources used

El Paso Matters, El Paso City Council may reconsider Flock Safety camera contract, March 2, 2026, updated March 3, 2026: https://elpasomatters.org/2026/03/02/flock-safety-license-plate-reader-cameras-contract-el-paso-texas-city-council/

El Paso Police Department, Chief Peter Pacillas memo to mayor and city council on Flock Safety ALPR System, August 22, 2025: https://elpasonews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/pacillas_memo.pdf

City of El Paso Legistar, March 3, 2026 City Council meeting agenda: https://elpasotexas.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=1389596&GUID=527AD6A0-F5C4-4BA6-9416-2FFF1C2324C6

Flock Safety, Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.flocksafety.com/faq

Immigration Policy Tracking Project, reported ICE access to Flock ALPR cameras via local law enforcement: https://immpolicytracking.org/policies/reported-ice-accessing-flock-automated-license-plate-reader-cameras-via-local-law-enforcement/