The same Flock license plate reader technology now being deployed across The Woodlands area helped Conroe police track a fleeing stabbing suspect across city limits and arrest him when he returned, the department said in a statement Wednesday, Aug. 12.

Officers responded to a weapons disturbance at an apartment complex in the 2000 block of N. Loop 336 W. on Saturday, July 25, where they found a victim suffering from a stab wound and significant blood loss, according to Woodlands Online. An officer on scene immediately packed the wound and maintained pressure until EMS arrived.

After securing the scene, officers identified the suspect's vehicle and entered it into the Flock camera system, which showed the vehicle had left Conroe. When a Flock camera later detected the vehicle re-entering the city, that alert was relayed to officers in the field.

A 40-year-old suspect was located and arrested without incident.

The department said the arrest demonstrates how the Flock system helps officers quickly locate suspects, calling the technology a valuable tool for community safety. Conroe police described it as one of multiple cases in which the cameras have assisted with apprehensions.

The case illustrates a capability central to the ongoing debate over the cameras: Flock readers can track a vehicle across jurisdictional lines and alert officers the moment it returns. That cross-boundary reach is the same feature that drew objections from Conroe residents at a city council meeting in late July.

A pattern of rapid arrests

This is not the first time Conroe police have credited Flock cameras with a fast apprehension. In a separate case, investigators entered a vehicle description into the system after a pregnant convenience store clerk was kidnapped and sexually assaulted on April 10, 2025. The system returned a license plate number, and patrol officers arrested Logan Michael Parker within hours.

Parker was sentenced to two life terms on Aug. 6. After that sentencing, Conroe Police Chief Jon Buckholtz told Fox 26 on Aug. 10 that the technology played a key role. "This subject was located and separated from society in hours," Buckholtz said. "That was made possible through the tools of modern law enforcement and importantly, good, solid police work."

The Fifth Circuit ruled in March that police use of automated license plate readers does not constitute a Fourth Amendment search, finding that drivers have no reasonable expectation of privacy on public roads and that a plate is "constantly open to plain view," according to Montgomery County Police Reporter. The ruling, in United States v. Porter, removed a legal challenge that could have restricted the technology's use across Texas and Louisiana.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office has also been deploying Flock cameras in The Woodlands area. Residents who want to report information about the July 25 stabbing can contact Conroe PD's community liaison office at (936) 522-3237.