2026 08 17 24 Public Comment
The short version: A New Hanover County resident took Flock ALPR surveillance straight to the commissioners, and DeFlockILM caught it on tape for the public record.
Our Take
Credit to DeFlockILM for doing the unglamorous work that actually moves the needle: showing up to a county commissioners meeting, standing at the podium, and putting Flock Safety's license plate readers on the record. Public comment like this is how local surveillance expansion gets dragged out of the consent agenda and into daylight, where elected officials have to answer for a network they usually approve with zero public debate.
New Hanover County is just the latest example of a pattern we track everywhere: a sheriff's office quietly signs a Flock contract, cameras go up on public roads, and residents only find out when someone starts asking questions. Three minutes of public comment won't dismantle an ALPR network, but it builds a paper trail, puts commissioners on notice, and gives other residents a script for their own county meetings.
If you want to see whether cameras like these are already watching your commute, check our map, and if you're ready to push back at your own county meeting, our take-action page has the tools to help.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of DeFlockILM, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.