News Letter

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RCSC Short Takes

We enjoyed seeing some of you at our booth at the Chili Cook-off in Emory on Saturday, September 12. Even though we did not win, we thought our chili was a winner!

The grass fire on July 6, 2026, at Barrett Solar LLC, only a few months after Barrett Solar connected to the ERCOT grid and commenced operations, was caused by “failure of equipment or heat source” with the heat source reported as “electrical arcing,” according to the Point Fire Department Public Disclosure Report.

A motorist passing by Barrett Solar on US Highway 69 west of Point called 9-1-1 at 4:55 p.m. on July 6, 2026, after noticing smoke. When the Point Fire Department arrived on the scene at 5:08 p.m., the gate was closed and personnel from Barrett Solar were not on site. Trucks initially entered the facility “by triggering the photo eye which opened the gate,” according to the Point Fire Department Public Disclosure Report. The gate then closed and “was opened by hand and remained open for additional responding personnel” after a firefighter “opened the FD access box from the inside and pulled the release,” according to the report. The Emory Fire Department was dispatched to assist the Point Fire Department and arrived on the scene, also.

The fire incident, which covered “approximately 1.5 acres,” was reported to have ended at 6:51 p.m. The company that operates the solar farm site reported to the Rains County Leader (rainscountyleader.com, July 9, 2026), accessed October 8, 2026, that the firefighters “had the blaze under control within minutes.” According to the Point Fire Department Public Disclosure Report, the fire was contained with firefighters “hitting hot spots” at 5:31p.m. The fire incident lasted four minutes short of two hours from the time the passing motorist called 9-1-1 to report the fire and until the fire incident ended.

  After the fire incident ended, a unit from the Point Fire Department and a unit from the Emory Fire Department “remained on scene awaiting the arrival of solar farm personnel,” according to the report from the Point Fire Department. Both units departed more than 30 minutes after the fire incident ended and according to the Emory Fire Department Public Disclosure Report possibly as late as 1.5 hours after the fire incident ended, with still no Barrett Solar personnel on site.

Information obtained from the Point Fire Department Public Disclosure Report and the Emory Fire Department Public Disclosure Report.

Smile! You’re on Camera…

 It’s not “Candid Camera” the lighthearted, fun-loving television series that created interesting situations and caught people’s reactions to those situations on camera. But, rather, it’s “Big Brother.”

“Big Brother” is watching you! Surveillance cameras, such as Flock’s automated license plate readers, are rapidly popping up on our nation’s roadways and becoming part of the American landscape. Hence, we are quickly becoming a surveillance state.

“With surveillance technologies like Flock’s license plate readers becoming as common as traffic lights, the very fabric of American freedom is at stake,” according to an online article (Man in America, July 20, 2026) accessed July 24, 2026. Flock cameras and technologies are promoted as advantageous for public safety. However, there is growing concern about the consequences that come with these technologies.

The interconnected web of these automated license plate readers (commonly referred to as ALPR or just LPR) along with similar technologies and AI Data Centers is quickly infringing upon our privacy and our freedom. “Flock has faced criticism that its camera network, particularly its retention of personal data, violates citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights  under the U.S. Constitution,” according to Jacob Burg (Epoch Times, September 2-8, 2026).

Flock cameras have the potential good to help law enforcement, however, there have been reports of misidentifications, false readings, and misuse of Flock cameras. “Beyond concerns of mass surveillance and loss of privacy, there are dozens of reports of mistaken traffic stops, in which innocent motorists were pulled over, jailed, or held at gunpoint after a Flock automated license plate reader gave law enforcement a false vehicle match,” according to Burg. Also, there are incidents in which law enforcement officers have allegedly used the Flock camera database “to stalk romantic interests, ex-partners, or relatives,” said Burg. “Even if Flock’s cameras reached 99 percent accuracy, that would still mean hundreds of millions of misreads every single month, based on the more than 20 billion monthly scans the company says its cameras conduct,” said Burg.

“The rapid proliferation of AI-enhanced surveillance is fundamentally altering the nature of public space, moving beyond simple recording to active, real-time behavioral analysis. Industry leaders are increasingly transparent about this shift; Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison recently predicted a future of constant monitoring, stating during a 2024 meeting that AI-managed camera networks will ensure that ‘citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on,” according to Tom DeWeese (“The AI Prison Planet,” New American, June 2026).

Surveillance cameras have been placed along Rains County roads. The Rains County Commissioners Court “approved the use of Flock Safety license plate reader cameras” with the passing of Resolution # 10-2025 which allowed “the Sheriff’s Office to work with TxDOT to place these cameras on public roads,” according to Devan Hill (“Flock License Plate Readers in Rains County: What Residents Should Know,” https://www.facebook.com/devanhill, November 18, 2025) accessed August 18, 2026. Hill listed eight “serious privacy concerns that most residents don’t realize.”

According to Hill, “Rains County installs the cameras, but Flock owns the data and the system” with minimal or no oversight by the people of Rains County.  He said, “Public roads are becoming part of a private surveillance network.” Hill stated, “Every car that passes a Flock camera is logged. That includes: License plate number; Time and location; Vehicle make, model, and color; Unique features, like stickers or dents. All of this information is stored by Flock, not Rains County. This means a private company has full control over a record of residents’ daily movements.” Hill said, “Flock’s AI tracks more than plates.” He said the system is moving beyond “plate scanning into behavior tracking” such as potentially associating “driving patterns with specific drivers.”

Many are cancelling their Flock camera contracts. “After growing reports of false positives from Flock’s license plate readers, private citizens have called on local governments to cancel contracts with the company,” Burg said. “In August, Hood County, along with Pflugerville City Council and ISD, elected to decommission their Flock cameras, while the city of Wylie officials declined to renew their contract with the ALPR company,” said Hunter Burney (texasscorecard.com, August 31, 2026) accessed September 3, 2026. Other Texas cities have reconsidered and ended contracts with Flock as well according to Riley Wanasek (www.texasscorecard.com, September 21, 2026) accessed September 22, 2026.

“Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies to pause funding for Flock cameras,” according to Burney. The pause came “after a Texas agency allegedly spent an estimated $30 million on grants used for the technology,” said Burney. And, now more recently, “at Gov. Greg Abbott’s direction, the Texas Department of Transportation suspended the issuance of permits for Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers on state-owned roads,” said Wanasek.

Burney quoted Abbott’s spokesman Andrew Mahaleris as having said, “To the extent that cities get any funding for those cameras, most of it comes from the federal government.” The Department of Homeland Security is helping pay for cameras with grants according to Jenn Baker (www.gatewaypundit.com, July 20, 2026) accessed July 24, 2026.  The federal funds flow “to small towns for ‘terrorism prevention’ equipment,” said Baker. “The towns get cameras. The federal government gets access to the data. The architecture of Flock’s network ensures the data flows freely across jurisdictional lines,” according to Baker. That is how the web of surveillance grows.

Flock is not the only company using surveillance cameras. Similar technologies include Axon, Palantir, and Signal Trace. Axon sells “the exact same kind of license plate reading cameras that Flock does, and they even make a version that attaches quietly to streetlights instead of sitting on a big pole where you can spot it. So even if we win the fight against Flock, the same technology can slip right back in wearing a different company’s name,” according to the Man in America article.

Palantir collects “everything about you, your car, your face, your movements” creating a “searchable file,” the Man in America article said. Signal Trace “can pick up the unique wireless signals from your phone, smartwatch, fitness tracker, and even the tire pressure sensors in your car, and stitch them together in what they call a digital fingerprint. That means it can figure out who you regularly ride with, even in someone else’s car, without ever needing to read a license plate at all,” according to the Man in America article.

Steps you can take

The surveillance “is designed to capture everything,” however there are measures that one can do to counter this surveillance according to Baker. “The Scarecrow is an open-source project that generates optimized grayscale frame patterns for license plates.” These frame patterns are created “to suppress ALPR camera detection while remaining readable to the human eye,” said Baker. “No frame defeats every camera.” Learn more about Scarecrow at https://github.com/Meltedd/scarecrow.

There is a DeFlock (www.deflock.org) app that locates Flock cameras across the nation, according to Baker. “The app shows where cameras are positioned and which direction they face. It can also plot routes that avoid cameras entirely.”

Baker said, “Signal Trace countermeasures are harder. Your car’s tire pressure sensor broadcasts a fixed, unencrypted ID constantly. Disabling Bluetooth on your phone does almost nothing. The sensors passively capture signals your devices emit whether you want them to or not. The only reliable method is putting your devices in a Faraday bag before entering a vehicle.”

Another step to take is legislative action. According to Congressman Keith Self’s website and press release dated July 15, 2026, Congressman Self from Texas Congressional District 3 introduced legislation that “would require federal law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before accessing or querying surveillance data collected by state and local systems, including automated license plate readers (ALPRs) and other technologies.”

According to Agenda Weekly (published and accessed July 24, 2026), Amy Kremer, founder of Humans First, “urged citizens to take action at the local level: ‘the American people need to do what it takes to put Flock out of business. Every locality is different, so figure out what it will take in your city, town, county and get them removed… the legal way.’” Hood County did just that and took action. “They shut down and covered Flock automated license plate reader cameras after county commissioners and residents raised concerns about privacy and mass surveillance, officials said,” according to reports by S.E. Jenkins, Briseida Holguin, and CBS Texas Staff (www.cbsnews.com/texas, updated August 16, 2026) accessed August 18, 2026.  

Call to Action

Encourage Rains County commissioners to rid Rains County of surveillance cameras and similar surveillance technologies. Urge them to cancel the Flock camera contract they approved.

Urge Governor Abbott and our state legislators to take appropriate action to make our health, safety, and well-being a priority.  A moratorium should be placed countywide, statewide, and nationwide on AI Data Centers and renewable energy installations immediately until all risks, impacts to the communities and harmful consequences associated with these technologies are fully understood, characterized, eliminated, prevented or mitigated to acceptable levels and until appropriate safety regulations and standards are implemented.

What You Can Do

1. Pray. Join our Prayer Warrior Team and receive prayer requests. Click here .
2. Sign our Petition. Click  here
3. Inform others. “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance.” James Madison
4. Learn more at our website at www.rainscountysafetycoalition.org and on the Rains County Safety Coalition Facebook page.
5. Voice your concerns and be heard. Encourage accountability and transparency. Contact elected officials about any concerns you have.

Elected Official Contact Information:

County Judge Brent Hilliard, 903-473-5000 ext. 122, brent.d.hilliard@co.rains.tx.us

County Commissioner Jeremy Cook (Precinct 1), 214-202-2416, jeremy.cook@co.rains.tx.us

County Commissioner Jim Jones (Precinct 2), 903-473-5000 ext. 123, jim.jones@co.rains.tx.us

County Commissioner Korey Young (Precinct 3), 903-473-5000 ext. 160, korey.young@co.rains.tx.us

County Commissioner Lori Northcutt (Precinct 4), 903-473-5000 ext. 124, lori.northcutt@co.rains.tx.us

State Representative Cole Hefner (District 5), cole.hefner@house.tx.gov

Austin Office: 512-463-0271, Mt. Pleasant Office: 903-717-8238, Lindale Office: 903-882-3254

State Senator Angela Paxton (District 8), angela.paxton@senate.texas.gov

Austin Office: 512-463-0108, Allen Office: 972-908-3424, Greenville Office: 903-454-2880

Governor Greg Abbott: 512-463-2000

To file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General the link is:

www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/filing-complaint- faq

US Senator John Cornyn: Washington DC Office: 202-224-2934, Dallas Office: 972-239-1310

US Senator Ted Cruz: Washington DC Office: 202-224-5922, Dallas Office: 214-599-8749

US Representative Pat Fallon: Washington DC Office: 202-225-6673, Rockwall Office: 972-771-0100

This information was obtained from the Texas Scorecard website, the Rains County website, Senator Cornyn’s website, Senator Cruz’s website, Representative Fallon’s website, and from the Texas Attorney General’s office.

Current Known Active Projects

There are two renewable energy projects in Rains County. Barrett Solar LLC, the solar farm west of Point on the south side of US Highway 69, comprises close to 1,000 acres on property belonging to Barrett and others. It is operational. In the northeast corner of the county (1.5 miles west of FM 2081) there is a plan to install a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) on land owned by Majewski. Active construction is set to begin this fall with connection to the ERCOT grid in 2027.