Houston Public Media reported that 54% of League City voters rejected the use of Flock Safety cameras, which are automated license plate readers, in Tuesday's election. The other 46% voted to keep them.
A resolution council members approved in October requires the cameras to come down within 72 hours of the election. Mayor Nick Long, re-elected to a second term Tuesday, said the contract does not allow removal yet, so the city will cover the cameras instead.
Will League City still use Flock cameras?
Not while the cameras are covered. City officials said the police department will stop collecting data and sharing it with outside agencies once the bags go on. Officials said the bagging starts Thursday morning.
The city also described the data it already holds:
- Data already collected is purged after 30 days unless it is kept as evidence in an active case.
- Data already shared with outside agencies is kept for 30 days unless it is preserved as evidence in an existing case.
What changes for drivers in League City?
This vote covers League City's own cameras. Once they are covered, League City police stop collecting data from them. The source describes no other camera operators, so it says nothing about cameras run by neighboring cities, the county, the state, or businesses and HOAs.
You can check which cameras are mapped near you on the camera map. For background on how these systems work, read how plate readers work.
Why the contract is the sticking point
The camera system is a contract issue, not just a vote issue. Long told Houston Public Media in August that if voters rejected the cameras, the city would pay off its contract and create a “path to unwind it.” The report does not say what that payoff costs or when it will be finished.
The League City Police Department had 55 Flock cameras, with 16 more in the TxDOT permitting process, according to a city news release from July. That count is from July, so the current number may differ.
Texas City police said in September they would change how they oversee their Flock cameras after identifying two possible instances of misuse. Two other Houston-area communities also suspended Flock camera use after resident complaints.
What is still unknown
The report does not say when the contract exit will be completed, whether the cameras will be physically removed, or whether the city will keep any cameras in use. It also does not say whether the 16 cameras in the TxDOT permitting process will move forward.
The next concrete step is Thursday morning, when city officials begin bagging the cameras.