Collection precedes suspicion
The city's policy expressly says reasonable suspicion or probable cause is not required to query ALPR data. Policy source
What is happening
A camera can record your car even when you are not under investigation.
Published City purchase records document 47 ALPR readers. On September 7, Celina's portal reported 48 “LPR and other cameras.” The public records reviewed here do not identify or classify the additional portal camera. This page shows what a reader captures, how long the record remains searchable, where the data can go, and which reader locations the City has published.
Official recordWe support removal
Plain-language guide
Not ordinary streaming video
Flock describes its readers as still-image devices. A record can contain the plate number, a vehicle image, make, model, color, date, time, location, and other vehicle characteristics. Flock product description Flock FAQ
Authorized users can run retroactive searches across past detections. Hotlist alerts are generated in real time when a detected plate appears on a list. Celina says the cameras detect plates and vehicle characteristics, not faces, people, gender, or race. Celina technology page Transparency portal
Before enforcement action on an alert, policy requires an officer to compare the plate and vehicle image and confirm the record through NCIC. Celina ALPR policy
Data flow
From roadway image to possible action
This diagram summarizes the published process. A raw alert is not a confirmed match or an enforcement outcome.
1. Vehicle passes cameraStill image is captured.
2. Record createdPlate, vehicle details, time, and location.
3. Cloud retentionOrdinarily 30 days; case-related preservation may last longer.
Separate DPS branchPolicy says Celina reads are sent to Texas DPS every 24 hours and retained there for 30 days.Policy source
4. Search or alertAuthorized retroactive query or hotlist alert.
5. Human verificationImage, plate, vehicle, and NCIC check before possible investigative action.
Why decommission the network
Even proper use still records and shares ordinary travel.
Written safeguards do not eliminate routine collection, retrospective search, outside access, or travel records about people unconnected to an investigation.
A local read can leave the local system
The policy says Celina reads are sent to Texas DPS every 24 hours, while the public portal lists more than 1,000 sharing entries. Policy Portal
Most locations remain undisclosed
Official records identify six sites; the 2025 purchase establishes 41 more readers without locating them in the reviewed packet. Phase 1 plan 2025 order
The goal is to end the program, remove every reader, close outside access, and delete ordinary stored data where the law allows. A public review is the first step.
Email City CouncilInteractive map
The six reader locations Celina has published
Official record
Each marker comes directly from the Police Department's 2024 Phase 1 planning document. These six locations represent only part of the 47-reader network.
Select a numbered marker for the camera ID, intersection, direction, verification status, and source. Open the Phase 1 planning document
| ID | Intersection | Direction | Coordinates | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F#001 | S. Preston Road at Frontier Parkway | Northbound | 33.2675863, -96.7838485 | Official record |
| F#002 | N. Preston Road at County Road 106 | Southbound | 33.3826799, -96.7656971 | Official record |
| F#003 | E. Outer Loop at FM 2478 | Westbound | 33.2989155, -96.7329406 | Official record |
| F#004 | W. Outer Loop at S. Preston Road | Westbound | 33.2937437, -96.7844026 | Official record |
| F#005 | E. Outer Loop at S. Preston Road | Eastbound | 33.2937209, -96.7806730 | Official record |
| F#006 | Crutchfield Road at FM 1385 | Eastbound | 33.2675811, -96.8928355 | Official record |
41additional cameras
Not publicly confirmed
Locations not publicly identified in the reviewed city documents
The 2025 order form and staff presentation establish an expansion of 41 readers, but the reviewed records do not provide their sites. Celina's grant testimony says the planned readers would cover major entry and exit points, commercial areas, and construction zones. Those broad areas are not a usable inventory. 2025 order form Grant testimony
The presenter also described conversations with Walmart and said he believed Lowe's would help put up readers. The record does not show that either company installed one, whether private readers feed Celina's system, or whether any are included in the documented 47-reader purchase total or the portal's 48-camera figure.
This website does not estimate, geocode, or copy unverified locations. DeFlock is a separate crowdsourced reference, not Celina's official camera inventory.
Sharing network
Access is broad; use is not publicly itemized.
On September 7, 2026, the live list contained 1,082 entries representing 1,079 distinct organization names, including one entry explicitly labeled federal. The portal calls these organizations “granted access” to Celina data. Live portal
That list does not prove that every listed organization searched or used Celina data. It also does not show how often outside agencies searched the data or for what purposes. Query logs and sharing-history records are needed to answer those questions.
Ask for answers
Ask the City to identify the missing locations.
Residents should know where the readers are and have a public discussion about ending the program and removing every city-operated ALPR reader.