No One Spoke in Favor: Citizen Rally and Heated Debate Over Flock License Plate Readers

Our Take

When a county commission chamber fills up and the public comment line runs long with objections and zero supporters, that's not noise — that's a signal. WECT News 6's coverage of the New Hanover County meeting shows what we keep seeing across the country: once residents learn what Flock Safety cameras actually log, retain, and share, the enthusiasm from the sales pitch evaporates fast. Credit to WECT for getting cameras in the room and letting constituents speak in their own words instead of relying on the company's talking points.

This is exactly the pattern DeFlock The USA tracks — a county quietly adopts a "public safety tool," then discovers its own taxpayers are the ones organizing against it once they understand the surveillance dragnet involves scanning every plate, every car, every day, often shared with other agencies with little oversight. A unanimous turnout against something local officials thought was a safe, popular purchase should be a wake-up call to commissioners anywhere considering the same contract.

If you want to see whether Flock or similar ALPR systems are already watching your streets, check our camera map, and if your county is weighing a vote like New Hanover's, our take-action page has tools to help you show up before the contract is signed, not after.