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A Flock Safety camera topped by a solar panel logs\u00a0license plates and vehicle information\u00a0from eastbound traffic on Young Street in front of Dallas City Hall in downtown Dallas on July 29, 2026.<\/p>\n
Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
5:35\u00a0p.m., Aug. 17, 2026: This story was revised after its\u00a0initial publication to include comment from Flock Safety.<\/p>\n
Dallas police are not planning to change the department\u2019s retention schedule of one year for Flock camera data \u2014 generally an outlier but in line with some big cities\u00a0\u2014 even as the Atlanta-based tech company is now reducing its recommended\u00a0default from 30 days to seven.<\/p>\n
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The Dallas Police Department uses a longer retention period because they say investigators need more time to examine data in lengthy cases, identify patterns across serial offenses and pursue vehicles identified later in an investigation.<\/p>\n
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Flock Safety, whose vast network of roadside cameras<\/a> has drawn national scrutiny in recent months, said last week it would also require users to provide certain information when conducting searches and broadly roll out an audit tool designed to flag suspicious searches by officers. The company said the changes are intended to \u201cstrengthen privacy, accountability and security.\u201d<\/p>\n The updates could tighten oversight of a system Dallas police describe as critical to homicide investigations, searches for missing people and other cases. The city has more than 670 cameras across the city. The City Council approved a three-year, $5.7 million contract with the company in May 2025.<\/p>\n