The Wylie City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday night not to renew the city’s contract with Flock Safety, putting six automated license plate reader cameras on track to come down in October.
Wylie, about 25 miles northeast of Dallas, has used the cameras since August 2024. The Wylie Police Department said the city pays about $27,000 a year for the six devices. Flock cameras photograph vehicles on public roads and store a car’s description along with the date, time, and location it passed. That data can be shared with other law enforcement agencies.
Residents organized against renewal. Austin Gregory, founder of DeFlock Wylie, launched a petition that gathered more than 700 signatures. At Tuesday’s meeting, speakers told the council they feared warrantless tracking and said privacy risks outweighed the cameras’ crime-fighting benefits.
Police asked the council to keep the system. Assistant Police Chief Tommy Walters said the cameras have helped solve cases that might otherwise have gone cold, including a homicide this year. Officers said searches require a case number.
Mayor Matthew Porter said the technology can be useful when officers are working a case, but raised concerns about how long the data is stored and how widely it is shared. “I think that it is a great tool when you guys are legitimately trying to solve cases. My concern is all of that data is being stored and shared with a lot of other departments,” Porter said.
The council agenda item asked members to give direction on the automatic renewal terms of the Flock Safety agreement. After public comment and the police presentation, the council voted unanimously to end the contract. Members also set a workshop to discuss whether a future agreement could include tighter limits on data sharing and retention.
Wylie joins other Texas jurisdictions that have moved to drop Flock systems, including Hood County and Pflugerville. The current Wylie contract expires in October, and city officials said the cameras are expected to be removed around that time.