Texas deputy searched 83,000 Flock cameras nationwide for a woman who had an abortion

On May 9, 2025, a Johnson County, Texas, sheriff’s deputy used Flock Safety’s National Lookup feature to search for a woman’s license plate across more than 83,000 cameras in 6,809 law enforcement networks in multiple states. The reason logged for the search was “had an abortion, search for female.” After 404 Media reported the search, the sheriff and Flock described it as a welfare check for a missing person. Court records obtained by EFF showed deputies had opened a death investigation of a non-viable fetus, logged evidence of a self-managed abortion and consulted prosecutors about possible charges. The search reached data in Illinois and Washington; Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias reportedly called the use illegal. Two members of Congress wrote to Flock’s CEO in August 2025 about the episode.