Investigations into officers misusing Flock Safety license plate reader cameras have spread across the Houston region, including Fort Bend County, just weeks after Stafford approved its own Flock camera agreement.
Officers in Harris County, Fort Bend County, Baytown, Pasadena and Deer Park have all faced investigations for possible Flock camera misuse in recent weeks, ABC13 reported Aug. 24. The pattern raises oversight questions about the more than 2,200 cameras operating across the Houston area, most of which are owned by utility districts that share data with law enforcement without a warrant requirement.
Stafford's new agreement
The Stafford City Council voted 4-1 on Aug. 5 to approve a cost-sharing agreement with the East Fort Bend County Development Authority for Flock cameras in an area called "the GRID." Mayor Pro Tem Tim Wood cast the lone dissenting vote.
The deal followed a July 15 vote directing the city attorney to negotiate a one-year agreement splitting costs with the development authority. That earlier vote passed 4-3, with Wood and council members Herrera and Rosas opposed.
Multiple residents raised concerns at the Aug. 5 meeting. Liza Mendonca questioned misuse by other governmental entities and the total cost of the cameras. Clint Mendonca cited 50 cases of Flock camera misuse across various agencies and pointed to cities that have removed the cameras.
Documented misuse in the region
A Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office lieutenant admitted to improperly using Flock cameras to look up one person's license plate 41 times and another person's plate 148 times between January 2022 and December 2025, according to documents obtained by ABC13. That case was first reported in July.
In a separate case filed in Fort Bend County, former Katy police officer Sergio Guadalupe Rodriguez was charged with stalking and misuse of official information after prosecutors say he used the Katy Police Department's Flock system to track his ex-wife between November 2024 and April 2025, KPRC reported Aug. 25. Katy PD is a Harris County agency, but the charges were filed in Fort Bend County, where the alleged conduct occurred. Rodriguez was arrested May 4 by the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office. Bond was set at $30,000 total. He has pleaded not guilty.
In Pasadena, former Sgt. Michael Palitz surrendered his peace officer license after allegations he used Flock cameras to monitor a fellow officer. The Harris County Sheriff's Office suspended three deputies' access to the system while investigating potential misuse.
Oversight gaps
The cameras capture license plates, car models, colors and even bumper stickers, uploading data to a searchable database officers can access without a warrant, according to the Texas Tribune. Most camera networks in the region are owned by municipal utility districts and neighborhood associations rather than law enforcement agencies.
"They create searchable records of people, where they've been, where they've traveled to, and which vehicle has moved near and around them," Howard Henderson, founding director of Texas Southern University's Center for Justice Research, told ABC13. "That essentially includes people that are not even suspected of a crime, and I think that becomes the bigger issue in this case."
Flock Safety has responded by shortening its default data retention from 30 days to seven, requiring officers to enter a case code before searching, and adding an "Evidence Mode" for active investigations.
The Institute for Justice has cataloged more than 100 incidents of license plate reader abuse nationally, including cases in Fort Bend County. Rodriguez is scheduled to return to court Sept. 2.
