Lawmakers Added $1 to Texans' Car Insurance. That Money Paid for Thousands of Flock Cameras

In 2023 the Texas Legislature unanimously passed a law adding $1 to auto insurance policies to combat catalytic converter theft. Three years later, a little-known state agency has devoted at least $30 million of that fee to expanding the state's Flock surveillance network, placing cameras along highways and streets from El Paso to the Louisiana border, an analysis by The Texas Tribune found.

From a $1 fee to 3,200 cameras

The Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority, whose board is mostly appointed by Governor Greg Abbott, has turned the fee increase into at least 3,200 Flock cameras. The agency has awarded no fewer than 95 grants to help law enforcement agencies buy and maintain about 2,000 cameras, while another $15.9 million is helping the Texas Department of Public Safety add almost 1,200 more.

The $1 fee has raised an estimated $81 million, of which $50.8 million went into 234 grants — reimbursing police departments for officers, crime analysts and prosecutors, as well as drones and other surveillance devices. Grants ranged from $7,000 for two cameras in Bellmead, near Waco, to almost $1.7 million for 201 cameras in Dallas. Some city networks, such as the 165 cameras in Laredo and 150 in El Paso, were entirely subsidised by the grants. The Tribune linked grants for Flock cameras to 73 departments.

Cameras that were not discussed when the bill passed

The 2023 legislation made no reference to license plate readers. State Senator Carol Alvarado and Representative Jeff Leach, the bill's author and House sponsor, said surveillance cameras were never discussed when the legislation was considered.

Flock cameras, the most commonly used license plate readers in the country, create a "vehicle fingerprint" using artificial intelligence: plate number, make, model, colour and details such as dents and bumper stickers are stored in a database that law enforcement across the country can search without a warrant. Representative Mitch Little, a Lewisville Republican, said the sheer volume of information captured is not, in his view, something the Fourth Amendment entertains.

Abbott's order and misuse cases

Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said the governor was pausing all state funding for local grants to be used for Flock cameras: most funding cities get for the cameras comes from the federal government, and anything coming from Texas agencies cannot be used for them.

Misuse cases have sharpened the backlash. A Lufkin police officer was indicted on 24 August on 100 counts of misusing official information, and officers in Baytown, Harris County, Fort Bend County, Temple and Pasadena have been arrested, disciplined or investigated.