Flock cameras are being used on college campuses; some students are not happy

Public uproar over Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers (LPRs) has grown in recent months. Now, North Texas college students are taking their turn in speaking up. 

Flock Safety has garnered national attention and backlash for its license plate readers, which police use to track vehicles. The Atlanta-based private tech company also manufactures AI-powered video surveillance cameras, gunshot audio detectors, mobile security trailers – often seen in parking lots – computer software and automated drones. 

Texas Civil Rights Project DFW Regional Organizer Jenny Sanchez likes the advocacy by young adults on Flock cameras and other current Texas issues. 

“Our younger generation really impresses me because they have skills that I have never seen before,” She said. “They are so incredibly vocal, they use social media so well and know the power of social media, so it’s really important to be vocal because they’re our face right now.” 

Last week, the Texas Civil Rights Project hosted a “No ALPR Week of Action” with awareness events across the state. 

“It’s really important for our youth to be involved in issues that are going to affect them, their loved ones, their friends, their work colleagues, and Flock cameras are an issue right now that are affecting everyone in Texas,” Sanchez said. 

Southern Methodist University 

Southern Methodist University uses Verkada, a Silicon Valley-based security technology company, for its LPR technology. The tech is used by the SMU PD and by parking services to validate license plates to parking passes. 

According to SMU’s parking webpage, the cameras are mounted on the cars of “parking officers” as they drive around lots to identify unauthorized or unregistered vehicles parked on campus.

SMU did not respond to requests for comment. 

University of Texas at Dallas

The University of Texas at Dallas has 13 Flock cameras on its campus, according to a transparency portal operated by Flock Safety. The portal provides information for the past 30 days, including the number of unique vehicles detected, the number of searches, hotlist hits and the organizations with which UTD shares and receives data. 

UTD, with a student population of over 30,000, is the only college in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with a Flock transparency portal. 

“The system will alert the police department when it scans a license plate coming into the campus that has a felony warrant, is reported stolen, or is a suspect vehicle in a reported crime,” the UTD PD website says.

University of North Texas 

The University of North Texas Police Department installed Flock cameras in January of 2023. The Denton campus currently operates 15 cameras, and the Frisco campus operates two. 

“We have been monitoring the national conversation and will continue to review our policies, making adjustments as needed,” Melisa Brown, director of university communications, said in an email.

Brown said the on-campus ALPRs do not connect to databases that identify names, addresses or other personal identifiers. She also said the data collected is encrypted and only accessible to certain officers within UNT PD. 

University of North Texas student Katherine Perez said the technology is a “very powerful tool” and has been trying to raise awareness about Flock cameras near her campus. 

“Who needs that much information and claims to use it 100% within the law, within morals,” she said. “Nobody.”

Perez said she was worried about law enforcement misusing the technology. On Aug. 23, a police officer in Fort Bend was charged with misusing Flock cameras to stalk a woman for at least five months. Multiple police departments across the country have announced officers have been investigated for similar actions. 

As the vice president of the university chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, Perez said her organization has been working to communicate student concerns to administrators. She said the lack of information from campus leaders has created an environment of distrust. 

UNT does not have a transparency portal as UTD does, though Perez said it would make no difference to her anyway. 

“I saw the ones in Denton, and [information] can be hidden if they choose to,” Perez said. “I don’t see a point in a tool where you claim to be transparent but also leave the option to take transparency out of the equation. So I don’t put too much value on the transparency tool.” 

Perez said that law enforcement’s framing of safety has likely kept many people from talking about the issue as they normally would, while the worry has been growing since doorbell and home security cameras like Ring have been around. 

“When it came to our own house cameras, some people were already discussing how those track people passing each camera, and now that we have [Flock] actively doing that, there’s not much discourse about it because it’s all in the claim of safety,” Perez said. 

According to DeFlock, a watchdog group that maps Flock cameras nationwide, the Dallas-Fort Worth area has over 3,000 ALPR cameras, over 600 of which are in Dallas. 

Many municipalities are severing ties with Flock Safety in the wake of public opposition. Hood County Constable John D. Shirley unplugged and covered the three Flock cameras in his county after the Hood County Commissioners Court canceled its contract with the tech company. 

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux defended the use of cameras in Dallas, saying they were a “great tool” for keeping people safe. Comeaux also said no Dallas police officers have been investigated or disciplined for misusing Flock data.