Friendswood's 36 Flock Safety cameras helped police recover 10 stolen vehicles worth about $320,000 in 2024, Community Impact reported, citing the city's annual police report. The results land as cities across the Houston area split sharply over whether to keep or kill the license plate reader technology.

Manvel City Council voted unanimously on Sept. 8 to end its contract with Flock Safety and remove funding from the fiscal 2026-27 budget. Mayor Dan Davis said council members learned the system's capabilities went far beyond what they approved in 2024, including data sharing with outside agencies, AI-powered vehicle searches and national network access.

All 16 of Manvel's cameras were covered shortly after the vote. The police department immediately cut off external agency access to its feed.

Friendswood's cameras and Pearland's 112 remain active. Pearland disabled Flock's nationwide data-sharing feature in September 2026 after finding about 63% of searches over the previous year came from out-of-state agencies, Community Impact reported. Pearland crime analyst Lyndall Baker told the outlet the department requires a case number for each search and conducts monthly audits.

Seabrook operates eight fixed license plate reader units across the city, according to the city's program page. The city limits use to law enforcement purposes such as locating stolen vehicles, wanted persons and missing or endangered persons. Officers cannot use the system for revenue-generating enforcement like expired tags or insurance violations. Seabrook retains the data for 30 days.

The debate reaches the county level, too.

Harris County commissioners voted 3-2 on Thursday, Oct. 15, to form a workgroup to review the county's roughly 5,300 active Flock cameras, KHOU reported. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez will chair the group, which must present recommendations to Commissioners Court by February 2027. The workgroup will examine rules governing data retention and sharing.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones decommissioned her office's cameras and formally withdrew from the county's master agreement with Flock. Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis said his office has never operated the cameras. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo's office said constable Precincts 2, 7 and 8 provided license plate reader policies, while Precincts 1, 3, 4 and 5 did not, ABC13 reported.

Gov. Greg Abbott has also paused state funding for Flock cameras. Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris said state agencies are clarifying that their funds cannot be used for the technology, Click2Houston reported.

Neither Friendswood nor Seabrook has publicly announced plans to change its program. The Harris County workgroup's recommendations are due by February 2027.