7 September 10 - 16, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Month XX–Month XX, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | have been abused, and I would hate for that to be something that we heard happen within our own department. “ DPD representatives highlighted guard- rails the department has put in place to pre- vent abuse of the technology. Sworn officers do not automatically have access to the da- tabase; instead, only those (DPD estimates around 1,900, or more than half the force) who have completed training and have re- sponsibilities that overlap with the technol- ogy’s function can access it. Furthermore, the department compiles weekly audit logs which show exactly who accesses the sys- tem and for what reason, police representa- tives said. Cara Mendelsohn asked department representatives questions regarding the safeguards in place and the benefits of Flock cameras in investigative work. She strongly opposed the proposed amend- ment, which she said amounted to “defund the police 2.0.” “This seems to be the most important in- vestigative tool that I’ve seen,” she said. “I think, although our violent crime plan is great, part of our violent crime plan has been using Flock to help solve cases.” While she acknowledged the potential for issues, council member Gay Donnell Willis said the safeguards appear to be at the forefront of industry standards, and that Dallas residents should take some reassur- ance in the robust measures the department has put in place. “So I would say it sounds like ‘Dallasites, your city is leading in the preventive mea- sures around how Flock is used,’” Willis said. “However, if they can be strengthened further, if we learn more, I think we need to be open to doing that.” Bazaldua criticized the length of time the department retains Flock data. According to the transparency dashboard, DPD retains Flock data for a full year before discarding it. Data is needed for that duration, depart- ment representatives said, because certain investigations are prolonged. Having raised concerns about immigration enforcement’s use of the Flock cloud system, the District 7 council member also questioned whether the dozens of agencies with access to Flock data had to comply with DPD regulations governing its use, to which department offi- cials said they did not. The issue, Bazaldua said before the amendment was struck down, is not the technology itself, but rather the highly con- troversial company behind it. He called for the city to find a different vendor with more localized control and without connection to a national cloud database. “It’s whether or not we’re going to let a private company build the rules for it, or we’re going to build our own,” Bazaldua said. “And we can only build our own for our own officers. And we know that it’s been misused, and it will continue to be misused. And y’all cannot guarantee that us being a part of that network is not going to contrib- ute to the misuse of officers or others.” What’s next Last week’s meeting marked the last time council members will meet to discuss the budget before its final adoption on Sept. 16. Funding is still tight amid surging costs and declining revenues, and further amend- ments will almost certainly require cuts to other general fund departments. Officials and council members said more information about the Flock system would be provided at a Public Safety Committee meeting next Tuesday. “This tool is something that we really need to keep everyone safe,” DPD Chief Daniel Comeaux told the council. ▼ EDUCATION PICKY PATRICK HERE ARE SOME OF THE BOOKS DAN PATRICK WANTS REMOVED FROM SCHOOLS – OR ELSE. BY HANNAH EVERETT L t. Gov. Dan Patrick recently threat- ened school districts with penalties and retaliatory legislation if they do not remove inappropriate, graphic books from their libraries. Patrick said he would pass legislation to knock schools down an entire letter grade if they do not remove flagged books from classrooms and libraries. The state’s annual performance ratings, like letter grades A through F, are what the state can use to seize control of low-performing school districts, as it did this year in Fort Worth. “It’s the law and we expect you to follow the law,” Patrick said during a news confer- ence at the Texas Capitol on Aug. 19. “So we’re coming for the books. We ask that you do it on your own and remove these books.” The list from Recover America, an orga- nization intended to engage ministers and pastors in politics, spans 2,193 titles the or- ganization deems inappropriate. The list scores books from one to five, with five be- ing “the most sexually explicit and perva- sively vulgar.” Texas began its book-banning reputation in October of 2021, when Rep. Matt Krause, a Fort Worth Republican, sent a list of over 800 books and wrote letters to school dis- tricts asking them to identify whether they had any books on the list in their libraries. This move sparked parents into action, who challenged school districts to remove books they deemed inappropriate or por- nographic. Texas led the nation in the num- ber of books banned from public schools in the 2021-2022 academic year. Above Florida and Pennsylvania that year, Texas removed 801 books across 22 school districts, banning 174 titles at least twice between July 2021 and June 2022. In 2023, state lawmakers passed House Bill 900, also known as the Restricting Ex- plicit and Adult Designated Educational Re- sources (READER) Act, which aimed to regulate books included or sold in public school libraries. The bill, which was quickly challenged in court, required book vendors to rate the relevance of sexual references or explicitness and parents to give consent for students to have access to “sexually rele- vant” books. During the 2025 legislative session, law- makers passed Senate Bill 13, which shifted book-removal authority further to parents and school boards and away from librarians. The law centers around “parents’ rights,” which Gov. Greg Abbott has campaigned on and used to pass legislation on private school vouchers. SB13 requires parents to have access to their child’s school district’s online catalog and library and to be alerted when their child checks out books through a learning management system or portal. The READER Act was permanently blocked in October 2025 when a federal judge in Waco ruled it unconstitutional, but SB13 remains in effect. Patrick, who is up for reelection in No- vember, said the insisted removals were not book bans. “There are no books banned in America,” he said. “You can buy any book you want to buy if you want it. But we do not take tax- payer money and buy these books for our schools.” Patrick also said that over 90% of parents and grandparents would not want their kids to see the books on the Recover America list. According to the American Library Associa- tion, only 3% of book complaints and chal- lenges in 2025 came from individual parents, whereas 92% came from pressure groups and government officials. As no surprise, the new list includes al- ready-criticized books like “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess, “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, most Stephan King novels, and practically anything with LGBTQ+, race or gender in the title. The Houston Chronicle reported on how “Night,” the highly regarded, historically significant 1956 Elie Wiesel Holocaust memoir, is included on the Patrick-approved list of “filthy” books. Let’s take a look at some of the other books Patrick says include “sexually explicit, por- nographic and pervasively vulgar material.” “And Then I Turned Into a Mermaid” “And Then I Turned Into a Mermaid” by Laura Kirkpatrick is part of a coming-of-age series for readers aged 9 and up. The main character, Molly Seabrook, is 13 when she finds out she and the rest of her family are all part mermaid. The book navigates themes of embarrassment, social awkward- ness and family. The book landed on the vul- gar book list with a score of 2 out of 5. “Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key” Written by Jack Gantos, “Joey Pigza Swal- lowed the Key” is about a young boy with ADHD who struggles in the classroom, at home and with his behavior. Joey’s teachers threaten to send him to a special education center because of his erratic behavior. The book is recommended by the publisher for ages 10-14. “Nate the Great and the Sticky Case” With a target audience of ages 7 to 9, “Nate the Great and the Sticky Case” by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat is the fifth entry in a child-detective chapter book series. The story follows Nate and his dog as they solve the case of a missing dinosaur stamp. Per- haps the stegosaurus on the stamp is too scary, because the book was included on the list and rated a 2 by Recover America. “Plum: How the Sugar Plum Fairy Got Her Wings” “Plum,” written by “Will & Grace” star Sean Hayes and composer Scott Icenogle, is an il- lustrated picture book inspired by “The Nutcracker” about how the Sugar Plum Fairy got her wings. The story starts with Plum living at an orphanage with a snow- storm threatening the delivery of presents on Christmas Eve. She eats a magical cake and is transported to the Land of Sweets, where a sourness is spreading across the land and threatening Christmas there too. Plum tries to help save Christmas and ends up finding a family in the process. Recover America rated the book a 1 out of 5. Texas elected officials are “coming for the books” again. Photo by Hannah Everett
