Princeton Rejects Flock Camera Rollout in 5–1 Council Vote

By R.J. Morales | TX3DNews

PRINCETON, Texas — Princeton has become the latest North Texas city to reconsider the use of Flock license plate readers, with the City Council voting Tuesday to end its automated license plate reader program before six newly arrived Flock cameras were installed.

The decision followed a lengthy debate over privacy, data access and public safety, with Princeton police defending the technology as an investigative tool while council members questioned whether adequate safeguards were in place.

The six temporary Flock cameras arrived Aug. 26 as the city waited for TxDOT approval for permanent installations.

“These cameras have not been installed at this time until we had a chance to speak with council about what direction they would like to move in,” Sgt. Carolyn Crawford of the Princeton Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division told council.

Police defend the technology

Crawford said automated license plate readers can give investigators another way to locate vehicles without tying up officers along major roadways.

“One of the biggest benefits is that this technology acts as a force multiplier,” Crawford said. “Like many law enforcement agencies, we have limited personnel and investigative resources.”

She said officers cannot continuously watch every major road for a particular vehicle, while the system can alert police when a license plate connected to a legitimate law enforcement purpose is detected.

The department also discussed a separate Motorola Vigilant project approved in 2024 using ARPA funding. That project included six fixed cameras and three portable units.

Police told council that Princeton had no fixed license plate reader cameras operating at the time of the meeting.

The department also pointed to a previous homicide investigation in which outside agencies used license plate reader information to help track a suspect vehicle toward Missouri. Police said investigators were eventually able to narrow down the vehicle’s location and contact the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Council questions oversight

Several council members said their concerns were less about Princeton police and more about the safeguards surrounding the technology.

Councilwoman Christina Todd said the city needed clearer rules before collecting large amounts of vehicle-location data.

“Intent and outcome are not the same,” Todd said. “So while we may have good intentions, the outcome is uncontrollable without having the policies and procedures in place to protect those things.”

Todd also noted that the council agenda called for discussion of contracts, policies, data retention and access, but said those materials were not included for residents to review.

“But none of that information was actually attached into the agenda for even the residents to see what those things are,” she said.

A Motorola representative told council that Princeton would own the data collected through Vigilant. He said officers searching the system would have to enter a case number and reason, and that searches would be logged for auditing.

Councilman Terrance Johnson said the larger debate over license plate reader technology extended well beyond Princeton.

“I feel like we’re trying to solve the world’s problems here in Princeton,” Johnson said. “This is a national issue.”

Johnson said he favored waiting to see how questions surrounding the technology develop at the state and national levels.

“I think we should let this play out at the state level,” he said.

The mayor also pointed to opposition the city had received from residents.

“I feel like that we have an abundance of residents who said no from online and emails,” he said. “And it’s for us as elected officials to listen to the residents, the residents who come first.”

He said he was “100% against the installation until we get more information.”

Council votes to shut it down

Council first considered a motion to continue installing the license plate readers while officials worked on policies governing their use, with the possibility that the cameras would remain offline until those rules were completed.

That motion received no second and failed.

A second motion called for the city to “sunset” its automated license plate reader technologies.

When a council member asked what “sunset” meant, the response was: “Decommission or not. Move forward or close out.”

The motion passed 5–1.

The decision stops more than the six pending Flock cameras. It also closes out Princeton’s broader fixed license plate reader program involving Motorola Vigilant.

For now, the city’s planned expansion of automated license plate reader technology is over.