Dallas Police Use 600 AI Cameras to Track Every License Plate

A Crime-Fighting Success Story

Hours before Dallas police Chief Daniel Comeaux's first day on the job, an elderly man in a wheelchair was shot dead near Fair Park. Two days later, the new chief stood among officers outside the suspected gunman's home in west Oak Cliff, impressed by one tool investigators had used to arrive there: the network of license plate-reading cameras scattered across the city. The case became one of his favorites to tell, showcasing how these high-tech surveillance tools helped solve two fatal shootings in April.

In Dallas, police have access to more than 600 license-plate reading cameras throughout the city, according to documents recently provided to The News through open records requests. The fast-spreading surveillance network is often lauded by investigators, with many crediting the tool as one of their most effective in identifying suspects, making swift arrests and solving crimes. These aren't your typical security cameras—they represent a sophisticated AI-powered system that's transforming how police work gets done.

Beyond License Plates: The Technology Behind the Surveillance

The company markets what it calls its "vehicle fingerprint technology," a system that doesn't just read license plates but analyzes a vehicle's make, model, color and other cosmetics — like bumper stickers or decals — to flag it across a network of cameras. The technology, according to company documents, can identify vehicles with paper tags or no tags at all, search for them without a plate number and match images with scanned vehicles to generate investigative leads.

The license plate-reading cameras, usually mounted on 12-foot poles, have quickly become standard in police departments across the country, including the Dallas Police Department. One of the company's cofounders, Garrett Langley, told Forbes in an article published in September that they had more than 80,000 AI-powered license-plate cameras across the United States. About 5,000 police agencies use the company's tools, he told the magazine. The company behind much of this technology, Flock Safety, claims its systems help solve an estimated million crimes annually.

Privacy Concerns Mount

Civil-liberties advocates are uneasy about the technology's rise. One recent lawsuit in Virginia argues the long-term databases of vehicle movements cross a constitutional line by enabling continuous tracking without a warrant. In that case, two Hampton Roads residents are suing the city of Norfolk, Va. They contend the city's use of a network of Flock license-plate readers amounts to unconstitutional, warrantless surveillance in violation of the Fourth Amendment, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

In 2022, a policy and advocacy strategy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas told The Dallas Morning News the government shouldn't track people's whereabouts just in case they do something wrong and there should be "absolute clarity" about how and where surveillance technology is used in a community. Another question is where the cameras are placed. The exact locations are often withheld by police departments, including by Dallas police, in response to inquiries or open records requests.

The Future of Surveillance

A Dallas police spokesperson said the retention period for the city is one year. While Flock Safety's default retention period is 30 days, Dallas keeps the data much longer, raising additional privacy questions about long-term tracking capabilities. So far, courts that have considered license-plate readers have upheld their use, finding that drivers have little expectation of privacy when it comes to plate numbers visible on public roads.

The technology represents a fundamental shift in how law enforcement operates. What once required dozens of officers conducting manual surveillance can now be accomplished by an automated network that never sleeps, never takes breaks, and captures every vehicle that passes by. As more cities adopt these systems, the debate over balancing public safety with privacy rights will only intensify, making Dallas a key testing ground for the future of urban surveillance.