Debate continues over Flock cameras

And amid growing concerns over privacy issues and misuse by law enforcement, League City and Conroe could send the issue of flock cameras directly to the voters. Tonight, League City leaders will vote on an ordinance that would put the use of flock cameras on the November ballot. And over in Conroe, officials there considering a similar measure with an expected vote on that one. Come Thursday, both cities have until next Monday to put the item on the ballot. And we want to hear from you tonight. Do flock cameras actually make you feel safer in your community? Or do you trust those in power to use it responsibly? You can vote now by scanning that QR code at the bottom of your screen right there. You can also send me a text 7135819914. I'm also here on ticked off, but Caroline's joining me now. So let's jump into this here. League City, the November ballot. What's going on? Okay, Anthony, I mean, this is a big topic of conversation on social media, and a lot of people kind of sound off about these flock cameras, right? But the big question tonight is should League City police continue using automated license plate reader cameras? Okay, so a lot of people call that big brother, like the government spying on you, and they really don't like it. So League City is like, all right, we're gonna ask the voters. So the City Council is proposing literally asking the people who live there that very question. On November 3rd, the cameras are placed at fixed locations along public roads and automatically capture license plate information from vehicles passing by. So police can use that information as a tool in law enforcement and criminal investigation. But here's the important part. This would not be an advisory vote. Rather, this means that it's just simply a yes or a no vote that would be put on the ballot by itself, and it would require the city to either keep or it would not require the city to keep or get rid of the cameras. It's just literally almost taking a tally from voters saying do they want it or not. So the City Council is asking the voters whether they think the police department should continue using these cameras. And the proposed ballot question would read something like this. Should the League City Police Department continue using automated license plate reader cameras at fixed locations on public roadways for law enforcement purposes? And then the voters would just simply choose yes or no on November 3rd, and the question would appear on that ballot alongside the city's general election when you vote on everything else on November 3rd. Yeah, at least they're putting it for the voters. So you get to decide they're in League City again. Conrad looking at that on Thursday as well. All right. Thank you, Caroline. So much. You know, recently there's also been some issues with police officers in our areas with flock cameras. Well, yes. Okay, so this brings up the whole other layer to this story. There's been a couple incidents locally where police officers have actually resigned because they have been under investigation for issues involving flock cameras. Um, we had a Baytown police officer resigned well, um, under active internal and criminal investigation and also a Pasadena police officer resigned, accused of, um, basically tracking a female officer via these flock cameras. So the police kind of caught on to suspicious activity when looking up flock camera records and flagged it. And so, I mean, obviously, that's one way that the law enforcement can misuse this type of technology that's being so widely used in so many cities, and it's happening fast. Okay, Caroline, thank you so much. We appreciate it.