Bandera, Texas Council Ends Surveillance Contract, Triggers Proposal for Townwide Tech Ban

The Bandera, Texas city council voted 3-2 to terminate its contract with surveillance firm Flock. The decision follows months of public debate and resident outrage over the town’s license-plate-reader cameras.

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Bandera used a state grant to install eight Flock Safety AI license-plate-reader cameras. Residents repeatedly attended council meetings to oppose the system, and vandals destroyed camera poles, forcing the town to replace equipment at its own expense.

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Councilmember Jeff Flowers, a vocal supporter of the Flock contract, opposed its termination and framed the debate as a privacy issue, labeling opponents hypocritical. Residents who have publicly protested the surveillance program constitute the community opposition.

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Bandera’s population is roughly 900. The council’s vote was 3-2. The state grant funded eight LPR cameras. The town incurred additional costs replacing vandalized poles.

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After the vote, the council announced termination of the Flock contract. In a Bandera Bulletin letter, Jeff Flowers said preserving privacy required a return to 19th-century practices and pledged to propose bans on cellular devices, outward-facing cameras, internet services, and electronic record-keeping at the next council meeting.

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Residents voiced opposition at council meetings, stating they did not want government surveillance. Their protests escalated to vandalism of camera poles, which the town replaced at its own cost, underscoring community resistance.

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• “For months, I have listened to the outcry regarding License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology. I have seen the eyerolls, and I’ve even been met with ‘Nazi rhetoric,’ the dangerous claim that believing in accountability and community safety is somehow equivalent to totalitarianism,” — Jeff Flowers, Councilmember, Bandera, Texas

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• “Comparing a neighbor’s desire for a safe street to a dark chapter of history is a classic case of comparing apples to oranges; it is a distraction used to avoid the reality of the threats our town faces today.” — Jeff Flowers, Councilmember, Bandera, Texas

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• “a total ban on all cellular and GPS-capable devices for all operations within city limits. If we are to be truly ‘private,’ we must leave our smartphones at the city line.” — Jeff Flowers, Councilmember, Bandera, Texas

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• “a total ban on outward facing cameras,” — Jeff Flowers, Councilmember, Bandera, Texas

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• “a total termination of all internet services and electronic record-keeping. We are going back to 1880, paper ledgers and cash only.” — Jeff Flowers, Councilmember, Bandera, Texas

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The Bandera dispute highlights tension between surveillance technologies marketed for public safety and community demands for privacy in small municipalities. The outcome may influence how other rural towns evaluate state-funded monitoring programs.

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At the next council session, Flowers will introduce the “Bandera Declaration of Digital Independence,” proposing bans on cellular and GPS-capable devices, outward-facing cameras, internet service, and electronic record-keeping. The council will vote on the measures, shaping the town’s technology policy.

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