Pearland Council Reviews How Police Use Flock Cameras

Pearland Council Reviews How Police Use Flock CamerasPearland City Council met on Oct. 19 for a special workshop to review how the city uses Flock Safety license plate cameras. These cameras take still photos of license plates and other details about a vehicle, such as its color, make, body style and features like roof racks. Pearland started working with Flock Safety in early 2022 and installed its first cameras that summer. Today, the Pearland Police Department can access 112 cameras across the city. That includes 31 owned by the city, 48 run by homeowners associations, 31 run by private businesses and two run by Alvin ISD at Shadow Creek High School.The cameras send an alert to police when a license plate matches a "hot list," which can include stolen vehicles or cars linked to missing-person cases. However, Police Chief Derek Dunham explained that an alert alone does not allow an officer to pull someone over. "The hot list is not justification alone for stopping a vehicle," he said, adding that officers still need probable cause. Only trained officers, dispatchers and crime analysts can use the system, and each person must sign in with their own login and two factor authentication. Since mid 2023, supervisors have also audited searches, first every three months and now through random monthly checks, to make sure each search is legal and tied to a real case.Data sharing was another big topic. In September, Pearland turned off Flock's nationwide sharing feature after finding that about 63% of searches over the past year came from police agencies in other states. Two residents spoke at the meeting in support of the cameras, calling them one of many tools police can use. Several council members said they would like to explore an independent, third party audit to help prevent misuse. Council member Rushi Patel said residents deserve to know how their information is used and how the city keeps it safe.