Like data centers, automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) are incredibly unpopular with voters around the US. Plenty of local politicians are taking the hint, choosing to cancel controversial surveillance contracts with the granddad of ALPR companies, Flock Safety.
In the tiny town of Bandera, Texas, however, one petty tyrant on the city council took personal offense after his fellow politicians voted 3-2 to immediately end their contract with Flock earlier this month. After voting, the dissenting councilmember, identified by 404 Media as Jeff Flowers, immediately went on the offensive, threatening to outlaw virtually all forms of modern technology and take the town “back to 1880.”
In a statement shared by the town newspaper the Bandera Bulletin, Flowers addressed the roughly 900 residents who call the town home.
“For months, I have listened to the outcry regarding [ALPR] technology,” he scathed. “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. 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.”
“Since the Council has decided we are the ‘Free State of Bandera,’ a place where the ‘rights’ of a car thief or human trafficker to remain anonymous apparently outweigh the right of a resident to protect their property and the safety of their family, then we must go all the way,” Flowers continued his rant.
“To ensure our historic County Seat becomes the most ‘traditional’ sanctuary in Texas, I have requested… a total ban on all cellular and GPS-capable devices for all operations within city limits,” the councilman raged. “If we are to be truly ‘private,’ we must leave our smartphones at the city line.”
Continuing his childish crashout, Flowers also proposed a ban on all commercial and residential security cameras, as well as a “total total termination of all internet services and electronic record-keeping.”
“We are going back to 1880, paper ledgers and cash only,” he seethed.
Back in February, Flowers moderated a town hall meeting exclusively meant to discuss the Flock contract, which brought eight ALPRs into the one-horse town. During another February meeting, Flowers accused opponents of the private surveillance company of having something to hide, saying “I believe personally that guilty people act defensively.”
“If you don’t have anything to hide, then it shouldn’t be a problem,” he carried on. “I also believe when you are in a public space, your privacy kind of goes out the window because you are in essence in a public place.”
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