Diane Zaryki

Our Take

Credit where it's due: DeFlockILM is doing the unglamorous work that makes local surveillance fights winnable — showing up to county commissioner meetings with a camera and letting residents speak for themselves. Diane Zaryki's public comment on New Hanover County's Flock network is exactly the kind of record that rarely makes it past a meeting minutes PDF nobody reads. Once it's on video, it's harder for officials to pretend the objections were never raised.

This is how most ALPR fights actually happen — not in Congress, but in county commission chambers where a handful of residents show up and ask why their commute is being logged, stored, and shared with agencies they've never heard of. Flock's pitch to local government is efficiency and crime-solving; what gets left out is the retention windows, the data-sharing agreements, and the fact that a plate reader doesn't discriminate between a wanted felon and someone driving to a medical appointment they'd rather keep private.

If New Hanover County is on your radar, check our camera map to see what's already been deployed near you, and if you want to turn frustration into a public comment of your own, our take-action resources walk through how to find your next meeting and what to ask for.