Flock ALPR Cameras

Context

The Thomasville Police Department runs eight Flock Safety Falcon automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras (initial $28,034 paid October 29, 2025; $24,000 a year; the contract renews December 26, 2027 for 24 months unless cancelled 30 days earlier), plus two other ALPRs on trial from another vendor. A resident has spoken against them at council public forum in August and September on Fourth Amendment grounds, with others questioning cost, ownership of the cameras and return on investment. Details come from auto-captions.

Status

Police Chief Dustin Carter answered council's and the public's questions on October 6 in an 18-point presentation: 30-day default retention (90-day outer limit absent a preservation request), role-based access (29 patrol users alerts only, 11 detectives and 11 supervisors with search, six administrators), hit confirmation through NCIC before any stop, an August 11, 2026 audit finding no misuse, and the department saying it cannot produce before-and-after crime statistics because of the cyber attack. Members asked for a condensed version at a council meeting (October) rather than a public forum. A new state law also makes it permanent to place ALPRs on NC DOT right-of-way by agreement. Outcome of the council presentation is not yet recorded.

Log

• 2026-10-06 - City Council - Public Safety Committee heard Dustin Carter's 18-question Flock presentation; members wanted a shortened public version at a council meeting rather than a forum.
• 2026-09-21 - City Council - Three residents challenged the cameras in public forum (constitutional objections, $80,000-plus cost, eight owned vs 12-13 seen, no ROI data); the mayor reminded the room council does not respond during public forum.
• 2026-08-17 - City Council - A resident cited cases of alleged ALPR misuse and said he is waiting on a public records request about searches of his own plate.