Manvel city leaders have voted unanimously to end the Texas city’s use of Flock license-plate-reading cameras, with Mayor Dan Davis ordering officials to stop funding the system and begin removing it.
The six-member vote took place during a public hearing on Tuesday, September 8, after residents, law-enforcement officials and representatives of Flock Safety addressed concerns about the programme.
Under the decision, Manvel will give Flock 30 days’ notice that it is terminating its agreement. The city also plans to cover its cameras within 24 to 48 hours, preventing them from being used while the contract winds down. ([cityofmanvel.com](https://cityofmanvel.com/Calendar.aspx?EID=863&calType=0&day=1&month=9&year=2026&utm_source=openai))
Manvel approved a contract for 21 Flock cameras in 2024. Davis supported the original agreement but said his position had changed after examining the company’s data-sharing arrangements, privacy safeguards, cybersecurity risks and the cost to taxpayers.
He stressed that his objection was not to automated number-plate recognition itself, but to Flock Safety and the way information gathered through its network could be handled and shared.
Concerns over access to Manvel camera data
Police told the hearing that 535 law-enforcement agencies outside Manvel had access to data from the city’s cameras. Most were in Texas, with the remainder in Louisiana, according to reporting from ABC13 Houston. ([latency.abc13.com](https://latency.abc13.com/post/manvel-city-council-votes-end-flock-camera-use/19808559/?utm_source=openai))
Some residents questioned whether the technology could be misused and called for the cameras to be removed. Others sought greater clarity about how data was stored, accessed and distributed.
Manvel’s police chief and the chief deputy of the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office argued that the cameras were an established public-safety tool that could help officers investigate crimes and identify vehicles linked to suspects.
Ian Patin, chief deputy at the sheriff’s office, said law-enforcement agencies needed to do more to explain how the system operated and provide meaningful accountability, but argued that those concerns should be addressed through regulation rather than by abandoning the technology entirely.
Davis said he continued to support giving local police effective investigative tools. However, he said Manvel’s limited budget meant the money allocated to Flock could be used more effectively elsewhere, while concerns about nationwide data-sharing practices remained unresolved.
