Burnet County Sheriff's Office has pulled every fixed license plate reader camera it operates from poles across the county, a move announced on Monday after vandals damaged two of the devices in separate incidents. In one incident, someone struck a camera and its battery with a blunt object; in another, someone cut the mounting brackets and the cables connecting a device to its power source. Criminal cases have been opened in both incidents, but authorities say no suspects have been identified.
According to CBS Austin, the disclosure came in an internal memo that Howard Stinehour, captain of the Heart of Texas Auto Theft Task Force, sent to Chief Deputy Alan Trevino. The memo confirmed that all fixed automated license plate reader cameras deployed in Burnet County — devices made by Flock Safety — were taken down that day.
Sheriff's Office Still Runs Mobile Flock Trailers
The removal doesn't end Burnet County's relationship with Flock Safety entirely. Chief Deputy Alan Trevino confirmed to DailyTrib.com that the sheriff's office still retains and operates mobile Flock surveillance trailers even as the fixed, pole-mounted units come down. The county's original agreement with Flock Safety dates to March 2025, when the Burnet County Commissioners Court approved a two-year, $44,000 contract covering both pole-mounted setups and mobile trailers.
The dismantled cameras belonged to the Heart of Texas Auto Theft Task Force, a multi-county collaboration funded through Texas Department of Motor Vehicles grants that covers 4,702 square miles across Burnet, Coryell, McLennan and Williamson counties. That directive applied strictly to devices managed by the sheriff's office and the task force, leaving fixed Flock cameras run by municipal police departments in the Highland Lakes area untouched, per the same account.
Residents Had Already Demanded the Contract's End
Public pressure had already been building before the vandalism. At a Commissioners Court meeting earlier this month, residents demanded that county leaders terminate the Flock Safety contract entirely and remove all the hardware, calling the system unacceptable mass surveillance, the same coverage notes.
A Regional Retreat From Automated License Plate Readers
Burnet County's move fits a broader Central Texas retreat from automated license plate readers. As reported by FOX 7 Austin, the City of Austin has already ended its license plate reader program, while Hays County and the city of Lockhart have also terminated their Flock Safety usage over concerns about data privacy and sharing.
Burnet County had 11 Flock Safety cameras deployed across its territory as of July 2025, according to Texas Scorecard, part of an interconnected network of thousands of plate-reading devices operating statewide. The outlet also notes that the vandalism in Burnet County mirrors a growing wave of anti-surveillance direct action targeting Flock devices elsewhere, with recent incidents reported in Minnesota, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
Camera Data Has Fueled Misuse Concerns Nationwide
A Washington Post investigation reported this month found that at least 50 law enforcement officers nationwide have been charged or accused of misusing license plate reader systems, with 46 of those cases tied to Flock Safety's database — including a case Hoodline covered involving a Columbus officer's own crash.
Getting Camera Footage — and What's Still Unknown
Members of the public looking to obtain license plate data or footage from Flock cameras must request it directly from the operating law enforcement agency rather than from Flock Safety itself, under the Texas Public Information Act, as Texas Crime Reporter notes.
Several questions remain open, according to DailyTrib.com: whether Burnet County's municipal police departments will follow the sheriff's office's lead, whether the mobile Flock trailers will draw similar public scrutiny, and whether investigators will ever identify who damaged the two cameras.
