Texas Senate Democrats filed a bill this week to ban a state agency from handing out grants for Flock license plate cameras, right as Lubbock wrestles with its own 160-camera surveillance network. According to the Texas Tribune, the state’s Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority somehow turned a $1 annual auto insurance fee meant to fight catalytic converter theft into more than $30 million for roadside cameras nobody in the Legislature remembers approving.
Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, authored that 2023 fee bill and is now sponsoring legislation to “put an end” to the grants after learning the authority helped install at least 3,200 Flock cameras across Texas. Even Gov. Greg Abbott froze state funding for the cameras in August after Tribune reporters started asking questions, while Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa called the unauthorized rollout a “fiasco” that should be taken down.
Here in Lubbock, local officials rolled out their dragnet with the city’s favorite democratic tool: the consent agenda. Lubbock Lights reports the City Council approved $138,300 in “seized funds” for Flock cameras in October 2024 without a single second of public debate, helping build a countywide network of 145 active cameras and 15 more awaiting repair or installation.
Between the city’s more than $67,000 budget allocation this fiscal year and the Texas Anti Gang Center spending $315,000 last year, local agencies are certainly getting their clicks in. Lubbock Police ran 37,119 searches in just the first seven months of 2026—a jump of more than 45 percent over the same period last year—using software that logs “vehicle fingerprints” down to your car’s dents and bumper stickers.
Police Chief Seth Herman defended the system to the City Council, insisting officers haven’t used it for “‘nefarious’ illegal activity” and warning, “Without these cameras and technology similar to that, we’re going to need a heck of a lot more officers.” Meanwhile, former mayoral candidate Stephen Sanders and Save Lubbock launched a petition needing 2,410 verified signatures before October 30 to force a ban, telling council members, “You have to come to us first.”
Nothing says small-government West Texas freedom quite like paying an extra dollar on your car insurance so the state can photograph your bumper stickers without asking.
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