The small Texas town of Bandera, home to roughly 900 residents, is at the center of a privacy dispute that escalated into a councilman's dramatic proposal to outlaw most modern technology. On [date of vote], the city council voted 3-2 to immediately terminate its contract with Flock Safety, the leading automatic license plate reader (ALPR) provider, prompting a sharp rebuke from dissenting councilman Jeff Flowers.
Flowers, who opposed the cancellation, issued a statement to the local newspaper, the Bandera Bulletin, in which he accused his colleagues of prioritizing the anonymity of criminals over public safety. He claimed that residents who criticized the surveillance system had used 'Nazi rhetoric' to equate accountability with totalitarianism, and he dismissed such comparisons as a distraction from the town's actual threats.
Proposal to Revert to 1880
In his statement, Flowers outlined a series of extreme measures he intends to request, including a total ban on all cellular and GPS-capable devices within city limits, a prohibition on commercial and residential security cameras, and the termination of all internet services and electronic record-keeping. He argued that if the council truly wanted to protect privacy, residents should leave their smartphones at the city line and return to paper ledgers and cash-only transactions, effectively taking the town 'back to 1880.'
The councilman's proposal comes after months of public debate over the Flock contract, which brought eight ALPRs to the town. In February, Flowers moderated a town hall meeting focused solely on the surveillance system, and during another meeting that month, he suggested that opponents of the cameras had something to hide, stating, 'I believe personally that guilty people act defensively.' He also asserted that privacy expectations diminish in public spaces, saying, 'If you don’t have anything to hide, then it shouldn’t be a problem.'
While Flowers's threats are unlikely to be enacted—the council would need to approve any such measures—they highlight the growing tension between privacy advocates and local officials over the use of surveillance technology. Across the United States, ALPRs have become increasingly unpopular, and several municipalities have moved to cancel contracts with Flock Safety, the company often referred to as the 'granddad' of ALPR providers.
The Bandera council's decision to end the contract reflects a broader trend of local governments responding to constituent concerns about data collection and privacy. However, Flowers's response underscores the deep divisions that can arise when communities weigh safety against civil liberties. As the town moves forward, the debate over how to balance these competing interests is likely to continue.
