DALLAS — Ian Pearce was driving to work early one morning in September 2021 when he spotted flashing police lights behind him.
Pearce, who worked as an Arlington teacher at the time, realized he was absentmindedly speeding and pulled into a parking lot along Pioneer Parkway in Pantego.
To his surprise, the officer let him go with a warning. But he was unsettled by what followed.
“I’m just going to take your picture real quick,” Pearce recalled the officer saying, as he snapped his photo with an electronic ticket machine. The officer explained it was standard procedure.
Police in Pantego — a tiny town almost entirely surrounded by Arlington — have for years taken photos of drivers who receive even minor traffic violations. Criminal justice and legal experts say the policy, though likely not illegal, could prompt concerns over security and privacy.
“This is definitely not standard practice,” said Johnny Nhan, a criminal justice professor at Texas Christian University. “Is it legal? I would say it falls in a gray area.”
Photos are used to ensure identities of people who contest tickets in court or do not pay fines and are arrested, Police Chief Jon Coulter said. Previously, he said, people frequently used names and birth dates of family members, and warrants were issued for the wrong people. Coulter did not say why a driver’s license or other state-issued ID are not sufficient proof.
Like many small towns, traffic fines fund a considerable portion of the budget in Pantego, which has a population of roughly 2,500. In 2022, police issued about 4,000 traffic citations. This year, the city expects to collect nearly $610,000 in fines, accounting for more than 12% of its budget.
In 2019, a report by Governing Magazine found Pantego was one of roughly 600 U.S. cities in which punitive fines account for more than 10% of revenue. That list also included Pantego’s neighbor, Dalworthington Gardens.
After he was pulled over, Pearce, 39, who lives in Arlington, said he wondered where his photo was being stored, how it might be used and whether it was secure.
“The picture was just sprung on me,” he said. “I didn’t question it at the time, but I was surprised.”
Per the city’s policy, photos should only be taken when tickets are issued, but two people, including Pearce, told The Dallas Morning News their photographs were taken despite not getting a ticket.
Photos are uploaded directly to the municipal court’s secure computer system, Coulter said, where they remain for five years before being deleted.
Although nothing in state or federal law prohibits police from taking or storing the photos, the practice could simply make people uncomfortable, said Geoffrey Corn, chair of criminal law for Texas Tech University’s law school.
“Ultimately, this is up people and to lawmakers to decide,” he said. “Just because something is permissible doesn’t mean we as a society want it.”
Nhan, the TCU professor, said police must have reasonable grounds for capturing fingerprints, and he sees some parallels between the two. Additionally, he questioned the added usefulness of photographs.
“We already have driver’s licenses, Real ID photos,” he said. “Why take everyone’s picture?”
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