Conroe Police Chief Jon Buckholtz this week defended the use of Flock cameras before the City Council voted to fund the city's 2027 contract with the maker of the license plate readers.

At Thursday's City Council meeting, Buckholtz said the cameras are an effective crime-fighting tool the city should keep using. And, he said, no one in the police department has accessed the camera data without a specific law enforcement reason.

"I am not aware, and I have looked diligently, of any complaint we have ever had in the last seven years until now, until this was a nationwide subject of contention," Buckholtz said. "I have seen no evidence of misuse (by Conroe Police Department)."

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The city has contracted with Flock since 2019, Buckholtz said. The city is one year into the current five-year contract.

Hairel and Arthur got little support from fellow council members and ultimately voted 3-2 to accept the city's $389 million budget for 2027, including the funding for the cameras.

Hairel and Arthur were the nay votes.

Councilman David Hairel, who read a prepared statement, asked the council to pause funding for the city's Flock program and for a review of how the technology is used. He said the contract with Flock expires at the end of the month. Funding for the cameras for 2027 is about $130,000, Buckholtz said.

"Flock cameras don't capture a single moment; they log every plate every time continuously citywide," Hairel said. "That is a fundamentally different kind of governmental power than a single officer watching a single road, and it deserves a fundamentally different level of scrutiny before we keep paying for it."

Hairel called Flock cameras "a surveillance system that raises unresolved constitutional questions."

Councilwoman Shana Arthur said she supports law enforcement but wants to protect residents' "civil liberties."

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This is not the first time Buckholtz has appeared before the city council to discuss the use and effectiveness of automated license plate readers, which have become a hot-button topic in the Houston region and across the U.S.

Buckholtz pointed out that in March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a lower-court ruling that police use of Flock automated license plate reader data does not violate the Fourth Amendment.

Over the last 30 days, Buckholtz said cameras in Conroe recorded about 894,000 unique plates, and investigators searched only 642.

"That is not mass surveillance," Buckholtz said. "I would never support something that is a violation of the Constitution. I didn't write a speech for today, but I am going to tell you (the cameras) are absolutely effective."

Approval of the new contract comes a month after the council rejected a proposal to ask voters in November if the city should continue using the Flock system.

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This article originally published at Flock Safety cameras divide Conroe officials as police push to keep license plate readers.