Editor’s Note: This is a preliminary article. Check the Daily Record website tomorrow for the full version.
The council voted five to two to postpone a $124,068 amendment to the contract with Flock Group, Inc. for additional equipment for the police department’s license plate recognition technology at tonight's regularly scheduled meeting.
San Marcos City Council Member Amanda Rodriguez made a motion to postpone contingent upon a policy in place that governs how the technology is used before approving the item. She said this was previously discussed during a Visioning session.
San Marcos Police Chief Stan Standridge said the policy was originally created in 2022. He said it is a four page document that is reflective of the accredited standard of Texas Best Practice, so it reflects what all departments in the state are doing. He said they are just adding additional cameras, but this technology has already been in use. He “respectfully requested” that it be approved.
Rodriguez said they “may be best practice in Texas” but not nationwide. She said there are other states and other cities that have addressed the 30-day storage for the camera data.
Standridge said 30 days gives citizens and detectives enough time to be aware of the crime and to do the follow-up investigation.
“Anything shorter than that and we are going to be deleting evidence,” he said.
San Marcos City Manager Stephanie Reyes said that the policy can be revised and be shared with the council, but it is ultimately Standridge’s decision.
Standridge said that he was hired to promulgate policy but was curious if that means he would no longer be one of his duties.
San Marcos Attorney Sam Aguirre said that because the council is responsible for funding the cameras, they can have their own policy, which would be more of a “two-way conversation” than a removal of duties for Standridge.
San Marcos Mayor Jane Hughson said she would be voting against the postponement but was willing to have the conversation at a later date as far as revising the policy.
Rodriguez clarified the postponement would be until June when there is council review of the policy.
