Beth Price speaks to concerns to Onslow County Board of Commissioners about ALPR Technology Accuracy

Our Take

Credit to the DeFlockILM channel for putting this exchange in front of more eyes. Beth Price's comments to the Onslow County Board of Commissioners cut right to the point we keep making: the debate over Flock Safety and similar ALPR systems isn't really about whether cameras can read a plate. It's about what happens after that plate is read, logged, shared, and queried — and who's accountable when the system gets it wrong or gets misused.

Misreads and false-positive alerts aren't hypothetical edge cases. They've led to wrong-driver stops at gunpoint in other jurisdictions, and every added camera network multiplies the chances it happens again. When a resident stands up at a county commission meeting and says 'the technology itself isn't the issue,' that's a direct challenge to the sales pitch vendors give local governments — accuracy stats and crime-solving anecdotes that dodge the harder questions about retention, access, audits, and interagency data sharing.

This is exactly the kind of local accountability moment that matters more than national headlines. Boards of commissioners, city councils, and sheriffs' offices are where these contracts get approved or rejected, often with little public scrutiny. If you want to see how dense this surveillance net has already gotten near you, check our camera map, and if Onslow County's debate sounds familiar, our take-action page has tools for raising it at your own next council meeting.