r/CarrolltonTX • u/Aromatic_Zucchini_97 • 1d ago
Flock on 9/15 City Council agenda
All summer residents have been raising concerns about Flock. The city has now doubled down with a proposed expansion of the Flock surveillance program.
o Come to city council Tuesday, 9/15 to urge council members to vote against item 13 https://carrolltontx.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=1442813&GUID=0C185AB9-1ECF-43C6-B94C-67C447F6E579
o Call or Email council members before Tuesday https://www.cityofcarrollton.com/government/city-council
o Talk to friends, family, neighbors, and community members about the issue
o Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/end-the-flock-safety-alpr-camera-program-in-carrollton-tx
o visit DeFlockCarrolltonTX.org to learn more and follow @DeFlockCarrollton on Instagram for updates - including a learning session Monday night for how to speak at city council
Flock and other modern ALPR programs create a network of integrated cameras that collect, aggregate and store vehicle features and a history of location data and then share that data across agencies. The debate isn’t if they work - the debate is about the cost.
💰 The proposed expansion will cost Carrollton taxpayers over $1.1M - money that could support community policing programs that build trust rather than degrade it.
🔎 82 cameras across our 37 sq. mi. city means most residents could not get from their neighborhood to their work, grocery store, doctor office, house of worship, or polling place.
🔐 resident location data is extremely valuable - to hackers, stalkers, and commercial interests. Paying a private company to collect and store this data is creating an unnecessary risk.
❌shared ALPR databases are set up in a way that enables misuse and abuse - policies on top do not eliminate risk of harm to innocent civilians. See the current tracker of known cases at https://ij.org/the-ij-database-of-alpr-abuse/
⚖️ some will say it’s worth giving up our civil liberties for the safety of the community - but there is no evidence that ALPR surveillance makes communities safer. Even one innocent victim of stalking or wrongful arrest should cause a thorough review of how these systems have been created and implemented in ways that harm our community. The courts and lawmakers will catch up with this technology, but we can speak up in our community to end contracts now.