Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer accused of running illegal search using Flock Safety

Our Take

WBTV's report out of Charlotte is a case study in what happens when a powerful surveillance tool runs on an honor system. An officer allegedly ran a search through Flock Safety's network that wasn't tied to a legitimate investigation, and the department's response was to place them on unpaid administrative leave. Credit to WBTV News - Charlotte for digging into a story that departments would rather keep quiet.

This is exactly the scenario privacy advocates have warned about since these camera networks started blanketing American streets. Flock's pitch to city councils is always about solving crimes, but the audit logs and 'policy' promises are only as good as the humans enforcing them. One officer's curiosity, grudge, or side hustle is all it takes to turn a public safety tool into a personal surveillance machine, and in most towns there's no independent body checking those logs in real time. We only find out when someone gets caught, and we have no idea how many don't.

Every one of these incidents is a reminder that the infrastructure itself is the problem, not just the rare bad actor who misuses it. If the cameras weren't there, there'd be nothing to abuse. Check our camera map to see what's tracking your own community, and visit our take-action page if you want to push back on unchecked ALPR deployment near you.