New Braunfels police defend license-plate reader program as critics warn of privacy risks

Police Chief Osvaldo Flores told the New Braunfels City Council on Sept. 30 that the police department’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) program is an accountability-focused investigative tool that has helped recover stolen property and locate missing people, but he urged the council and community to strengthen safeguards and state-level oversight.

"This is not a sales pitch. This is an accountability briefing," Flores said, describing how fixed ALPR cameras capture still images of license plates in public roadways, check them against hot lists (stolen vehicles, wanted persons, AMBER alerts) and require human verification before any investigative step. He said the city owns the data, retention is 30 days unless material to a criminal case, and CJIS security standards apply to system access.

Flores cited operational outcomes and three priorities for the council: continue the program as configured if grant funding remains in place, reinforce internal access controls and audits, and press for statewide legislation to standardize access and sharing rules. "Keep the tools, strengthen the safeguards, and preserve public safety while protecting our residents," he said.

Council members pressed Flores on placement and cost. He said placement is guided by crime patterns and traffic corridors and that grant funding through the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority (MVCPA) has paid most ALPR costs; he estimated roughly $3,500 per camera per year if the city had to assume full costs, and said the department received about $716,000 in grant and match funding across recent fiscal years to support the deployment.

During a public-comment period dozens of residents and advocates spoke on both sides. Supporters described concrete recoveries and arrests, including a July–August operational period Flores said produced major-case alerts and helped locate an elderly missing person. "It helped bring an at-risk missing person home safely," Flores said, recounting a case where ALPR data narrowed a search.

Privacy critics and several residents raised concerns about mass collection, aggregation and potential third-party access. One speaker representing a coalition warned that next-generation systems can log movements before any crime and create searchable histories. Another resident said he avoids routes that pass ALPR cameras and called the system a high-value target for hackers. Assistant Chief Dave Blevins and Flores told council that outside access to New Braunfels’ ALPR data has been disabled and any future data sharing would be governed by formal memoranda of understanding and NBPD policy.

Flores said audits to date have not revealed misuse in New Braunfels, and that the department conducts monthly internal and quarterly external audits; he also said NBPD has one of Flock’s largest local deployments and that the vendor has placed a temporary 90-day grace period on payments while state funding is paused. He warned that if state grants are discontinued the department will not immediately seek open-ended general-fund support and would return to council for any purchase orders.

The council did not take action at the meeting but asked staff to continue outreach, publish clearer program metrics on the department web page, and return with proposed policy language and reporting options for periodic council updates.