GUADALUPE COUNTY, Texas – Guadalupe County commissioners approved terminating the county’s contract with Flock Safety, citing vandalism of its automated license plate readers, during a meeting Tuesday.
“There’s a movement to get rid of it,” Guadalupe County Sheriff Joshua Ray said to the five commissioners before the vote.
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Flock cameras are used to assist criminal investigations by recording license plates, vehicles, locations and time, according to Bexar County’s Flock transparency portal. The device also helps law enforcement locate missing people.
KSAT has reported on privacy concerns revolving Flock Safety cameras. Ray said those concerns have led to the destruction of multiple devices around Guadalupe County.
“There’s so much public scrutiny over it,” Ray said.
Every Flock camera in Seguin was vandalized, and the sheriff said the company “is refusing to pay the cost to replace those cameras.”
“I refuse to spend your tax dollars replacing equipment that is likely to keep getting torn down,” Ray said in a statement.
The sheriff said vandalizing the camera systems is a crime.
In a statement to KSAT on Friday, Flock Safety urged people to stop damaging public safety equipment because it could lead to negative effects on an investigation.
“When a camera is taken offline, an investigative lead can disappear, and a time-sensitive alert tied to an AMBER Alert, a missing person case, or a violent crime suspect on the move may never reach the officers who need it,” a Flock Safety spokesperson said. “These are tools agencies rely on to respond quickly and help keep people safe.”
Some details of the contract were made public on Ray’s Facebook page and during the meeting.
Ending the contract costs the county roughly $85,000, according to Ray. It would save the county at least $48,500, but terminating the contract hasn’t been easy, the sheriff said.
Flock Safety charges Guadalupe County a monthly fee for every camera, even for the ones not in use, Ray said during the meeting.
More fees piled up in the early stages of the contract, but Ray said the county didn’t pay them because not all the cameras were installed as advertised.
“(Flock Safety) have not fulfilled their end of the contract,” Ray said. “They ultimately waived the (fees) and we just moved forward once the cameras were installed.”
He said the company is asking for the money again.
“Now they’re claiming we have to pay them all that money that they initially waived,” Ray said.
As the sheriff awaits a response from Flock Safety, he said he’ll continue to work through the dispute and negotiate not paying the fees without ending up in a courtroom.
“Now they have buyer’s remorse because we’re terminating the contract,” Ray said.
The commissioners court voted unanimously to move forward with ending its relationship with Flock Safety, but license plate readers aren’t going away in Guadalupe County.
“There are other license plate readers systems out there that we currently have,” Ray said. “What I’d like to do in the future is put any investment we’ve had in Flock camera and put it into another system.
Cases involving public safety equipment damage are open and still under investigation, Ray said. Flock Safety discourages that movement.
“People have every right to make their voices heard, but criminal acts should never be part of that process,” a Flock Safety spokesperson said in a statement. “Damaging public safety equipment ultimately hurts the very communities this technology is there to help protect.”
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