More than 2.2 million searches without case numbers, millions of queries from outside agencies, and police assurances that don’t match the records. Colleyville is showing Texans exactly why the state’s surveillance network must go.
The City of Colleyville’s public Flock camera page reported just 44 searches in 30 days. But audit logs obtained through open records requests reportedly show about 4.46 million searches over six months, more than 700,000 a month.
And 2,277,935 of those searches had no case number attached.
The findings, reported by Current Revolt on October 22, raise serious questions about how Colleyville’s license-plate surveillance system was used, who had access to it, and whether city officials understood the network they were defending. The public count and the audit logs may cover different periods and categories of searches, but a gap this size demands an explanation.
Texas Gun Rights has warned for months that Flock’s camera network lets government track law-abiding Texans without probable cause. Colleyville’s records show what that looks like in practice.
Millions of Searches, No Case Numbers
According to Current Revolt’s review of the records, more than 3,800 law enforcement agencies generated about 4.46 million search entries on Colleyville’s network over six months. Those are searches, not necessarily 4.46 million separate vehicles.
Colleyville’s own officers ran just 3,340 of them. The overwhelming majority came from other agencies, which could search without entering a case number at all.
That’s not what Police Chief Michael Miller told the City Council on September 1. He described three required fields documenting an officer’s justification: case number, purpose, and reason. He later acknowledged the case-number requirement was new, added after officials found what he called a gap in policy.
Current Revolt found that 1,268 of Colleyville’s own 3,340 searches had no case number before the department closed that gap on August 19.
A missing case number doesn’t prove a search was illegal. But when officials promise the public that every search is justified and documented, millions of searches without case numbers demand answers.
Searches From 43 Other States
Emails obtained by Current Revolt show Miller believed Colleyville’s cameras weren’t being shared outside Texas.
Yet the records reportedly show about 1.76 million searches from agencies in 43 other states before nationwide sharing was turned off on August 20. According to Current Revolt, Flock had sent the department monthly notices about its nationwide sharing settings.
Miller later told the City Council, according to Current Revolt, that the system shared data only with credentialed Texas agencies.
Whether he didn’t know or didn’t fully explain it, the gap between his assurances and the records is substantial. If city officials can’t say who is searching their cameras, why should Texans trust that the system is under control?
Grapevine Says It Can’t Even Check
Colleyville isn’t alone. In an October 28 follow-up, Current Revolt reported that neighboring Grapevine has told three citizens in writing that it can’t produce its Flock audit logs because the vendor keeps them.
Yet Grapevine’s searches show up in other cities’ logs: 10,558 through Colleyville’s cameras and 891 through Forney’s in a single month.
Texas’ Public Information Act generally requires agencies to release existing public records unless a legal exception applies. A private vendor shouldn’t become a wall between taxpayers and records of what their government is doing.
Colleyville should account for the discrepancies and release complete, updated audit logs, sharing settings, access records, and policies, with legally required protections for sensitive information. Grapevine should produce its records or cite the legal basis for withholding them.
Transparency shouldn’t depend on whether a citizen knows how to fight city hall.
Texas Cities Are Rejecting Flock. Austin Must Finish the Job.
Texas Gun Rights has already documented the growing revolt against Flock. Manor ended its contract. Leander froze its cameras. Pflugerville voted to terminate after residents examined its audit logs. According to The Texas Tribune, at least 900 Flock cameras had been disconnected across Texas by late September after state funding restrictions.
City-by-city isn’t enough. State Rep. Mitch Little has announced plans to file legislation banning automated license-plate readers in the session that begins in January 2027. Texas Gun Rights supports a statewide ban on government-operated Flock-style mass surveillance.
For gun owners, the threat is clear. As we’ve warned before, these cameras can log visits to gun stores, ranges, gun shows, training facilities, and Second Amendment meetings. Government doesn’t need a list of your firearms to build a picture of your lawful life. It just needs to track where you drive. Colleyville shows how far that data can travel.
“Colleyville’s own records show why Texans should never accept promises that mass surveillance is safe because government officials say there are guardrails,” said Chris McNutt, President of Texas Gun Rights. “Millions of searches, missing case numbers, and access by agencies across the country are exactly what we warned would happen. Colleyville needs to release the full records and explain what went wrong, and the Texas Legislature needs to ban this surveillance network before the next abuse occurs.”
Colleyville Residents Deserve Answers
Who authorized nationwide sharing? Why were millions of searches run without case numbers? What oversight existed for outside agencies? And why did the city’s public page tell such a different story from its own logs?
Colleyville residents should demand that the City Council release the complete audit logs, explain the discrepancies, and account for every agency with access to their data.
Transparency is how Texans expose the problem. A statewide ban is how we end it.
Chip in to Texas Gun Rights to help expose Flock’s surveillance network and fight for a statewide ban on government tracking of law-abiding Texans.
