Town of Kershaw becomes latest to add Flock Safety cameras

Our Take

Another small town, another Flock Safety camera, another local news segment that reads like a press release. WBTV's Charlotte affiliate covers Kershaw's new ALPR install the way these stories almost always go: officials say it'll help keep the community safe, more cameras might be coming, end of story. What's missing is the part that actually matters to residents — who gets access to this plate data, how long it's stored, whether it's shared with other agencies or federal databases, and what recourse anyone has if it's misused.

Kershaw is a small town, but small towns are exactly where these systems roll out with the least scrutiny. There's no city council fight, no public records request, no ACLU chapter showing up to the meeting. One camera becomes a few, a few becomes a network, and before long a town with one stoplight has built a surveillance grid that logs every car that passes through. That's not hypothetical — it's the pattern we've documented across hundreds of towns just like this one.

Credit to WBTV for at least reporting the install, but the public deserves more than a town leader's assurance that it's for safety. Check our map to see if Flock has already landed near you, and if you want to push back before it expands, our take-action page has the tools to start asking your local officials the questions reporters didn't.