Harris County commissioners voted 3-2 to direct county administrators to convene a working group on automated license plate reader oversight. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez will chair it.
The group is to examine reader data, access and oversight, then propose changes to county contracts with Flock Safety and Vigilant Systems, a Motorola subsidiary, by February 2027.
The readers have been in place since 2022. At a Thursday commissioners court meeting, dozens of residents weighed in amid reports that non-law-enforcement employees had accessed the system and officers had used it for personal purposes. There is also suspicion that people with access are sharing data with federal immigration authorities.
Harris County taxpayer Kevin Newsom was among those who spoke. He urged commissioners to cancel the Flock contracts, saying the surveillance violates constitutional protections.
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