2026 08 17 02 Public Comment
The short version: A New Hanover County resident takes the mic to push back on Flock ALPR cameras, showing local public comment remains a key pressure point against surveillance expansion.
Our Take
Credit to DeFlockILM for keeping a camera rolling on the stuff that actually moves policy: a resident standing up at a New Hanover County Commissioners meeting to question why Flock Safety's license plate readers are running in their community. No slick production, no pundit takes — just a citizen using the three minutes democracy gives them to put elected officials on record.
This is the unglamorous, essential work of pushing back on mass surveillance. Flock's pitch to county commissioners is almost always the same: it's just for solving crimes, the data is safe, nothing to worry about. But every jurisdiction that signs a contract is adding another node to a nationwide tracking network that logs where ordinary people drive, when, and how often — searchable by any agency with access, often with little independent oversight of misuse, data sharing, or retention. Public comment sessions like this one are where residents can force commissioners to actually answer for that tradeoff instead of rubber-stamping a vendor demo.
If you're in New Hanover County or anywhere else wondering whether these cameras are already watching your street, check our camera map, and if you want to show up at your own county meeting with something more than a hunch, our take-action resources can help you get started.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of DeFlockILM, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.