Lawmakers added $1 to car insurance policies. That money paid for Flock cameras

130

DDeepLogin about 4 hours ago 44 commentsRead Article on texastribune.org

DE version is available. Content is displayed in original English for accuracy.

⚡ Community Insights

Discussion Sentiment

100% Positive

Analyzed from 759 words in the discussion.

Discussion (44 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

k310•about 3 hours ago

Texas

> In 2023, the Texas Legislature unanimously passed a law raising auto insurance costs for Texans by $1 to combat rampant catalytic converter theft.

> The Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority, led by a board mostly appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, has turned the $1 fee hike into at least 3,200 Flock cameras.

More coming. Meanwhile, secure your EV!!! Batteries will be next!!!

SoftTalker•about 3 hours ago

In Texas I'm surprised it's not legal to shoot a catalytic converter thief if caught in the act. That's what they used to do for cattle rustlers.

ceejayoz•about 3 hours ago

https://guides.sll.texas.gov/gun-laws/stand-your-ground

links to https://www.uslawshield.com/defend-property-texas/

> Texas law allows you to use deadly force to protect property if you would be justified in using force, and you reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to prevent the imminent commission of specific enumerated property crimes. These are arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime.

I'd think that'd qualify.

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/?tab=1&code=PE&chapter=PE...

> Sec. 9.42. DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT PROPERTY. A person is justified in using deadly force against another to protect land or tangible, movable property:

> (1) if he would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.41; and

> (2) when and to the degree he reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:

> (A) to prevent the other's imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime; or (B) to prevent the other who is fleeing immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the property; and

> (3) he reasonably believes that:

> (A) the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means; or (B) the use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.

sokoloff•about 2 hours ago

I can’t see a catalytic converter theft on a car parked on the street as burglary. Parked in a (private) garage? Yes, burglary. Parked on the street? No.

So, daytime theft of a converter from a car parked outside wouldn’t qualify I don’t think.

chadgpt3•about 2 hours ago

You can legally murder people to prevent "mischief", as long as it's at night? Wow.

dghlsakjg•about 2 hours ago

You can use force in Texas to stop property crime.

Fire away, I guess.

Waterluvian•about 2 hours ago

I hope that the sustained negative publicity of Flock prevents it from successfully metastasizing outside the United States. I think this is one way in which Trump’s campaign to make the world distrust America helps. American surveillance systems abroad ought to be absolutely political suicide.

cromka•about 2 hours ago

Wish you were right, but Palantir continues to gain adoption.

chadgpt3•about 2 hours ago

It's only taught them to keep a lower profile. Nobody's heard of Axon cameras, which are exactly like Flock, and getting installed in all the places that don't have Flock.

jrexilius•about 2 hours ago

Also Motorola, which is the big incumbent provider for LE systems (911, traffic cams, et al). Axon and Motorola re LOVING Flock taking all the ... flak.

wahnfrieden•about 2 hours ago

They’re in Toronto

Waterluvian•about 2 hours ago

I’m searching for positive confirmation on this. I’ve heard rumours but non-Flock cameras keep getting flagged in the dataset.

qwerpy•about 2 hours ago

Strange that someone else’s question “Did it reduce catalytic converter theft?”, directly relevant to the article, got downvoted to death. Not sure if we’re meant to have discussions here or just dutifully complain about topics that are fashionable to complain about.

CamelCaseName•about 2 hours ago

I agree. I "revived" the comment by clicking on the timestamp ("33 minutes ago") and then clicking "vouch". I believe only users with a score of 200+ (points? karma?) can do so.

kryogen1c•about 2 hours ago

Been here 8 years, always wondered how comments died. I assumed it was algorithmic. TIL

throwup238•about 2 hours ago

“[dead]” usually means algorithmic (could be as simple as an account registered via Tor that hasn’t been vouched for enough times). “[flagged][dead]” usually means it was flag-killed by users, except I’ve been noticing some AI written comments that are flagged instead of just dead, but they’re minutes old so unlikely to be user flagged.

lostlogin•about 2 hours ago

I wondered that too. It doesn't say, but does state: "Data from the license plate readers, known in law enforcement as LPRs, was searched 62,000 times in 2025, leading to about 1,660 cleared catalytic converter theft cases, a report from the authority said."

Also, how many missing people are there? finding 10k seems quite a lot. “one of the most effective ways Flock has been able to help find, just last year, over 10,000 missing persons”.

Zak•about 1 hour ago

The term "missing person" calls to mind someone who is in serious danger, but a majority are something minor, like someone quitting a job without notice or taking an unannounced trip. The vast majority are resolved by finding the person alive.

Flock helping close 10K cases doesn't surprise me at all, but it doesn't meant those people wouldn't have been found without it. It may mean less work for the police, but the police don't usually put a lot of effort into a missing person without evidence they're in danger.

ihsw•about 3 hours ago

Did it reduce catalytic converter theft?

floralhangnail•about 1 hour ago

I doubt it helped much directly. The nationwide ring that was dismantled recently was busted partially due to surveillance from a pole mounted camera though. The article title initially baited my rage, but I can plausibly see how LPRC's could be used to track catalytic converter thieves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%932022_catalytic_co...

baldeagle•about 1 hour ago

It’s hard to say. As the economic got better, trade policies stabilized and the price of commodities and therefore the metals in a converter dropped in value. As the price of the metals went down, the thefts dropped nationally. Texas thefts seemed to have dropped inline with the national trend. Since the supply side issues are picking up again, the thefts are going up likewise.

DivingForGold•about 3 hours ago

Snooping Bastards !