With thousands of AI-powered cameras monitoring North Texas streets, advocates, residents and officials are pushing back against what some call a “surveillance state.”
As police use of drones, cameras and AI-powered license plate readers has accelerated across the country, activism against technology designed for continuous monitoring in public areas has followed in step. Critics are uneasy with what they perceive as invasive surveillance, insecure data and potential abuse of the technology by law enforcement, especially given the ongoing ramp-up of immigration enforcement in the U.S.
In December, the San Marcos City Council voted against renewing a contract with Flock Safety, the leading provider of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in the U.S. Plans called for expanding Flock’s San Marcos presence from 19 to 33 ALPRs, but were thwarted by the council after significant community pushback and criticism from civil rights groups. All Flock cameras were removed by the beginning of February. San Marcos is one of over 50 municipalities to have canceled contracts with Flock in recent years.
600-plus eyeballs
The cameras have drawn scrutiny over the course of several controversial cases. In 2025, it was reported that authorities had tapped into 83,000 North Texas cameras to locate a woman suspected of having an abortion. The Barbed Wire reported on data collected by 404 Media in June 2025 and found that at least 180 immigration-related Flock searches had been made by five Texas law enforcement agencies. And last week, The Institute for Justice published findings based on media reports and court records confirming that at least 24 motorists have been stopped, detained or jailed based on errors with the AI-driven technology…