Dallas City Council on Wednesday night rejected a plan to pull $1.5 million from the city’s Flock camera program, leaving about 300 city-funded license-plate readers in place.
The nonbinding vote came during debate over amendments to City Manager T.C. Broadnax’s proposed $5.6 billion budget, according to *The Dallas Morning News*. Council member Adam Bazaldua offered the cut. FOX 4 reports only three members backed ending the funding. The News named Jaime Resendez and Paula Blackmon as joining Bazaldua.
Bazaldua has said he is not against the technology itself but worries about control of the data. He wanted $1 million moved to sidewalks and street lighting and $500,000 to eviction-defense help, KERA News reported.
Council member Cara Mendelsohn opposed the cut. “This seems to be the most important investigative tool that I’ve seen,” she said, according to FOX 4. Several colleagues argued police rely on the cameras to find suspects and close cases.
The Dallas Police Department is already shutting off 321 Flock cameras on Sept. 15 after Gov. Greg Abbott paused state grant money for the systems, police announced Tuesday. Department spokesperson Allison Hudson told *The News* officials learned of the funding change in a meeting with the state that day. Police said more than 300 cameras paid for by the city will stay on.
Dallas approved a three-year Flock contract of about $5.7 million in May 2025. The department’s Flock transparency site credits the cameras with helping solve 12 homicides through Aug. 24 — 14% of homicide cases to that point.
Flock cameras photograph vehicles on public roads and store plate, time, and location data. Privacy advocates and some elected officials say the network can track drivers with too little oversight. Abbott’s pause and similar fights in other Texas cities put the program under a brighter light this month.
Wednesday’s vote does not finish the budget. The council is scheduled to adopt a final spending plan Sept. 16. Until then, the city-funded cameras remain in the draft budget.
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