College Station City Council votes 4 to 2 to keep its Flock plate reader cameras on state and city roads
The College Station City Council voted 4 to 2 on September 24th, 2026 to approve two agreements with Flock Group. One covers automatic license plate readers on state highway roads and the other covers cameras on other roads. Council members Mark Smith and Bob Yancy voted against. The cameras photograph the rear of passing vehicles day and night and sort each one by make, model and color. The city says no search can be run without reasonable suspicion. It says its police department decides which agencies can search the network and keeps every search indefinitely. An automated audit tool that went live in April is the city's named check on misuse. The city reports lower property crime since the cameras went up and says the drop correlates with them. It does not claim they caused it.
How to take part
The agreements were approved at a regular council meeting. Residents can speak on any agenda item at a future council meeting or contact council members through the city's website.
Where
1 county. In College Station-Bryan.
Timeline
- decided
Council approves both Flock agreements
- Today
How this decision moved
One dated line per check, oldest first. A line that says nothing changed means somebody looked and it had not.
- 2026-09-27
Admitted on the city's own account of the meeting. The agreements are approved and the cameras stay in service.
The evidence
Every fact above rests on one of these. The words are the source's own.
The Council voted 4-2 to approve an agreement not to exceed $158,000 with Flock Group for automatic license plate readers on Texas Department of Transportation roads and a $141,062 agreement for cameras on non-TxDOT roads.City of College Station, Live from City Hall, Thursday's City Council meeting (Sept. 24) Primary source, official · blog.cstx.gov
Councilmen Mark Smith and Bob Yancy voted against the motion.City of College Station, Live from City Hall, Thursday's City Council meeting (Sept. 24) Primary source, official · blog.cstx.gov
The solar-powered, LTE-connected cameras capture photos of the rear of passing vehicles during the day and night.City of College Station, Live from City Hall, Thursday's City Council meeting (Sept. 24) Primary source, official · blog.cstx.gov
The license plate image categorizes the vehicle’s make, model, and color, making the data searchable for criminal justice purposes.City of College Station, Live from City Hall, Thursday's City Council meeting (Sept. 24) Primary source, official · blog.cstx.gov
No search of the Flock system can be conducted without reasonable suspicion, the same level required for an officer to initiate a traffic stop.City of College Station, Live from City Hall, Thursday's City Council meeting (Sept. 24) Primary source, official · blog.cstx.gov
CSPD controls the agencies that can search its network, and all searches are retained indefinitely.City of College Station, Live from City Hall, Thursday's City Council meeting (Sept. 24) Primary source, official · blog.cstx.gov
The Flock Audit Assistant tool went live April 14 and detects most of the misuse cases highlighted in recent months, making it CSPD’s only crime-fighting tool with an integrated auditing feature that looks for misuse.City of College Station, Live from City Hall, Thursday's City Council meeting (Sept. 24) Primary source, official · blog.cstx.gov
This reduction in property crime offenses correlates with the introduction of Flock cameras.City of College Station, Live from City Hall, Thursday's City Council meeting (Sept. 24) Primary source, official · blog.cstx.gov
Questions about this decision
Answered from the record itself. Every answer is assembled from stored fields, so an answer the record has no basis for is left out rather than guessed.
What is this decision?
The College Station City Council voted 4 to 2 on September 24th, 2026 to approve two agreements with Flock Group. One covers automatic license plate readers on state highway roads and the other covers cameras on other roads. Council members Mark Smith and Bob Yancy voted against. The cameras photograph the rear of passing vehicles day and night and sort each one by make, model and color. The city says no search can be run without reasonable suspicion. It says its police department decides which agencies can search the network and keeps every search indefinitely. An automated audit tool that went live in April is the city's named check on misuse. The city reports lower property crime since the cameras went up and says the drop correlates with them. It does not claim they caused it.
Who decides it?
College Station City Council decides. The record names the deciding body for every entry it carries.
Can the public take part?
The agreements were approved at a regular council meeting. Residents can speak on any agenda item at a future council meeting or contact council members through the city's website. No dated public window is on the record. The deciding body is named and reachable.
Where in Texas does it apply?
It covers Brazos County.
Has it been decided?
It has been decided. The dates on the item page carry when.
What happens next?
No future date is on the record. The last dated step on it was decided on September 24th.
When did it start?
The earliest date on its record is September 24th, 2026.
What kind of decision is it?
It is filed under surveillance and policing.
What sources back it?
One source backs it. It is primary.
When was it last checked?
Every fact on it was last verified against its source on September 27th, 2026.
Cite this
Texas AI Docket, College Station City Council votes 4 to 2 to keep its Flock plate reader cameras on state and city roads. Tracked since September 24th, 2026. Last verified September 27th, 2026. https://texasaidocket.com/item/tx-2026-0190/. Reuse permitted under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. The same entry is in the docket JSON as item tx-2026-0190.
Beat
Filed under Surveillance and policing, with every other decision on that beat.