HAYS COUNTY, Texas – The Hays County Commissioners Court has voted to end all contracts with Flock Safety.
What they’re saying:
Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra shared this statement on the vote, saying:
“I’m proud to have led the effort for greater accountability in how surveillance is used in Hays County. In times like these, we must be vigilant about who has access to information about the people in our community. I support public safety technology however, never at the expense of privacy, transparency, or public trust.
I’ll take support from fellow officials, even at the eleventh hour what matters most is standing up for our community.
We’ll continue working toward solutions that protect both safety and civil liberties.”
Becerra had put the action item to terminate the contracts on the Oct. 14 Commissioners Court agenda.
License plate readers in Hays County
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis says license plate readers would have helped police catch the suspect from yesterday’s triple shooting, but they don’t have them anymore. License plate readers are a tool Hays County commissioners continue to delay purchasing more of for the county. Residents have expressed privacy concerns. FOX 7 Austin’s CrimeWatch reporter Meredith Aldis has more.
The backstory:
Ending the program is a move Hays County Commissioners have been considering for a while.
The Hays County Sheriff’s Office had been using six license plate reader cameras from Flock Safety and was intending to purchase four more.
READ MORE: Hays County grapples with eliminating license plate readers
In February, the Commissioners Court approved the purchase using grant money. However, the order form was incomplete as it was missing a signature, so it went back to Commissioners Court to rubber stamp it again.
Commissioners have been delaying the vote for months as Hays County residents voiced privacy concerns about the cameras.
The Source: Information in this report comes from the Hays County Commissioner’s Court and previous reporting by FOX 7 Austin’s CrimeWatch reporter Meredith Aldis
