Texas city demands $2M for public records on Flock usage
“Ludicrous” Texas city demands $2M for public records on Flock usage Prices of public records tracking cops’ use of Flock go up as backlash swells. On Monday, the Texas Tribune reported that city officials in a Fort Worth suburb, North Richland Hills, asked one group to pay $2.3 million before it would fulfill a public records request for Flock data. To reach that high fee, officials claimed that searching “about a terabyte worth of communications about errors, misuse, and effectiveness of the Flock system” would take approximately 14 years of labor at a rate of $15 per hour.
- ▪“Ludicrous” Texas city demands $2M for public records on Flock usage Prices of public records tracking cops’ use of Flock go up as backlash swells.
- ▪On Monday, the Texas Tribune reported that city officials in a Fort Worth suburb, North Richland Hills, asked one group to pay $2.3 million before it would fulfill a public records request for Flock data.
- ▪To reach that high fee, officials claimed that searching “about a terabyte worth of communications about errors, misuse, and effectiveness of the Flock system” would take approximately 14 years of labor at a rate of $15 per hour.
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| Original publisher | Ars Technica |
| Canonical URL | https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/10/texas-city-demands-2m-for-public-records-on-flock-usage/ |
| Publication time | Mon, 05 Oct 2026 20:31:12 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-10-05T22:06:55.357Z |
| Last seen | 2026-10-05T22:06:55.357Z |
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| Summary source text | contentText |
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| Cluster | 8fXcMSIkslNw · 1 stories |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
“Ludicrous” Texas city demands $2M for public records on Flock usage Prices of public records tracking cops’ use of Flock go up as backlash swells. Ashley Belanger – Oct 5, 2026 4:31 pm | 20 Credit: Justin Sullivan / Staff | Getty Images News Credit: Justin Sullivan / Staff | Getty Images News Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav As bipartisan backlash against Flock grows, some cities are asking anti-surveillance advocates and media outlets to pay eye-popping fees—including charging tens of thousands or even millions—to get information about how police departments are using and potentially abusing AI-enabled camera systems that track every vehicle that passes them.
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