Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua plans to introduce a budget amendment Wednesday that would pull $1.5 million in city money from the Police Department’s Flock Safety license-plate camera program, a move he said would effectively end the contract.
NBC 5 reported that Dallas police operate stationary Flock cameras at about 670 locations citywide under a three-year deal approved in May 2025. City records put the contract at about $5.7 million, paid from the general fund, a state catalytic-converter grant and a smaller Homeland Security grant.
“We have to be willing to pump the brakes and admit when maybe this technology hasn’t yet been vetted to the level that we would like,” Bazaldua told NBC 5. He also asked whether the program is sustainable if state money disappears.
That question sharpened last week. Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to stop funding Flock cameras, The Dallas Morning News and The Texas Tribune reported. Dallas used Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority grant funds to help expand the network. A Dallas police spokesperson told NBC 5 the department had not received official state guidance on how the order would affect existing cameras, grant money or future spending.
Police have described the readers as a crime-fighting tool for stolen vehicles, missing persons and investigations. In a January briefing cited by the Tribune, a Dallas sergeant said a state grant helped grow the network and aided cases including a tire-theft ring. Annual upkeep has been described in council briefings at about $3,300 per camera.
Civil-liberties groups and some residents have pressed the council to drop the system over data sharing, retention and federal access. Speakers at a May council meeting said the cameras generate a huge volume of plate reads stored for up to a year. Dallas police have said they do not share Flock data with ICE; critics argue other agencies on the network could still search local reads.
Flock Safety told NBC 5 it supports “thoughtful legislation and strong privacy, transparency, and accountability guardrails” while keeping tools available to police.
The amendment is scheduled for Wednesday’s budget process. A vote would decide whether Dallas keeps paying for the network or winds it down after Abbott’s funding pause.
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