The Dallas Police Department announced Tuesday that it will shut down hundreds of Flock cameras after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) directed state agencies to halt funding for the automated license plate readers, citing concerns over privacy and Fourth Amendment rights. “Three hundred twenty-one Flock cameras currently supported through…
Page A2From§Eachthe noon edition — 2 September 2026
Texas police AI writes abortion surveillance report, Dallas shutters Flock cameras after state pulls funding
First, Texas police put artificial intelligence to work—writing up a report about using Flock cameras to track down a woman who’d had an abortion. That’s surveillance automation with a mission: the AI logs the search, and the system hums along. But city budgets run on state signals, and the governor hits pause on funding. Dallas, left holding hundreds of Flock cameras, turns them all off—hundreds shut down at once. The sequence reads like a dystopian pilot: the robots file the paperwork, the money runs out, and the city flicks the switch. The beats are straight: the AI handles the report, the city handles the shutdown, and the governor handles the purse. The story lands on two receipts—the automation of surveillance, and the immediate reversal when the budget says stop. The stakes are clear: a surveillance state runs on electricity and checks. Pull either, and the curtain drops. The question that lingers is who gets to decide when the machines turn back on.
“So the cops hand abortion surveillance over to the robots, and then the city pulls the plug when the governor stops the checks. They get their hands on the tech, write up the search, and the money dries up—so the machines go dark. If they want to play dystopia, they better keep the lights on.”
“It’s important to recognize law enforcement’s innovative use of technology for public safety, but, well, the funding pause isn’t actually a big deal—these are just temporary measures. Did I say 'temporary'? I meant strategic. Besides, AI-written reports are about efficiency, not targeting anyone. I don’t see any problem here, except maybe a small technical hiccup. Wait, did I say hiccup? That doesn’t sound like me.”
The receipts
The incident shows how quickly police departments have come to use AI surveillance tools even in critically sensitive cases.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.