Commissioner Lesley Briones ordered all 61 surveillance cameras at Harris County Precinct 4 parks covered and taken offline Thursday, Oct. 8, citing residents' concerns about who can access the data the cameras collect and reports of misuse by authorized users.
The parks now have no security cameras.
Briones' office confirmed the Flock Safety cameras were physically covered by noon Oct. 8, rendering them unusable, Click2Houston reported. The 61 units included 48 security cameras and 13 automatic license plate readers spread across nine precinct parks and facilities, according to KHOU.
Precinct 4 covers western Harris County, including Friendswood, Webster, Seabrook, Nassau Bay and Clear Lake Shores. Field cameras used for other purposes, such as monitoring feral hogs, will remain because they are closed-circuit and do not share data, Precinct 4 Chief Public Affairs Officer Erin Mincberg Spiegel told ABC13.
"These cameras can be useful tools, but private ownership of the data and the use of AI present serious issues," Briones said in a statement, as reported by Houston Public Media.
Briones consulted with the Harris County Attorney's Office before acting. County attorney Abbie Kamin said commissioners have discretion over their devices under the current Flock contract and that no vote was required to take the cameras offline.
Flock Safety has been notified and told Briones' office that formal decommissioning would take about 48 hours. The cameras are leased under an annual contract by Precinct 4, while the Harris County Sheriff's Office serves as the system's designated administrator.
The shutdown affects only cameras controlled by Precinct 4. Seabrook Police Department operates its own separate network of eight Flock license plate readers under a city agreement, with data retained for 30 days and access restricted to department personnel, according to the city's LPR program page.
What prompted the shutdown
Briones' office pointed to residents' questions about outside agency access, vendor data disclosures, improper searches by authorized users and records kept past their expiration date. In August, three Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies were suspended from the Flock system for alleged misuse.
Harris County Commissioners Court approved a roughly $869,000 Flock contract renewal on May 28, covering June 6, 2026, through June 5, 2027. Briones' office said deactivating the cameras does not violate that agreement. Documents obtained by ABC13 show Flock billed Precinct 4 nearly $175,000 for its camera network in 2025.
Political pushback
Steve Radack, a former Houston Police Department sergeant running against Briones in the November election, criticized the move. He said shutting down cameras in parks does not make sense because parks attract criminal activity.
The Precinct 4 Constable's Office said it is too soon to determine whether losing access to the cameras will affect its ability to solve crimes. Constable Mark Herman is working with Briones and law enforcement partners to draft a universal Flock camera policy for Harris County and has reached out to state officials about placing Flock regulations on the agenda for the Texas legislative session beginning Jan. 15, 2027, Fox 26 reported.
What's next
Harris County Commissioners Court is scheduled to discuss Flock privacy concerns on Thursday, Oct. 15. County Judge Lina Hidalgo called for the discussion on Sept. 6, saying it should be public and include residents, companies, law enforcement and elected county leaders.
