Documented Incident
Dallas police cut Flock data sharing from 1,500-plus agencies to 202 Texas agencies
Event: September 8, 2026 · First reported: September 8, 2026 · 4 sources
The Dallas Police Department told the city's Public Safety Committee it has reduced outside access to its Flock license plate reader data from more than 1,500 agencies to 202, all within Texas, and has ended data sharing with federal partners. The changes come as Dallas weighs the future of a network of more than 670 Flock cameras, with 321 of them set to shut off after Gov. Greg Abbott withdrew state funding, citing reported misuse of Flock technology by officers in other cities. The City Council had signaled support for keeping $1.5 million in Flock funding for the coming year, and Councilmember Adam Bazaldua offered an amendment to cut that funding.
Dallas is one of the largest departments to unilaterally shrink its ALPR sharing network and cut off federal access, offering other cities a concrete example of how sharing settings can be narrowed without ending a program outright.
Key facts
- DPD reduced outside agency access to its Flock data from over 1,500 agencies to 202, all in Texas, and stopped sharing with federal partners.
- Dallas operates more than 670 Flock cameras; 321 were set to go dark after Gov. Greg Abbott pulled state funding over reported misuse by officers in other cities.
- DPD's current Flock data retention policy is 365 days; Deputy Chief William Griffith said the longer retention helped solve more business robberies and 13 murders this year.
- Flock policy chief Trevor Chandler told council members that agencies own and control their own data and that Flock is rolling out proactive auditing to flag atypical searches.
- The City Council signaled support for keeping $1.5 million in Flock funding for next year; Councilmember Adam Bazaldua proposed an amendment to cut it.
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- Dallas police limit who can access Flock camera data (nbcdfw.com, September 8, 2026)
- Scrutiny grows over Flock cameras as Dallas police limit data access (NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, September 9, 2026)
- Dallas police to deactivate 321 Flock cameras amid privacy concerns (spectrumlocalnews.com, September 9, 2026)
- Dallas police to deactivate 321 Flock cameras amid privacy concerns (spectrumlocalnews.com, September 9, 2026)
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About this record
BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.
Updated September 15, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.