David Buzzard
The short version: A New Hanover County resident's public comment on Flock ALPRs shows how local pushback starts with ordinary people showing up to meetings and asking hard questions.
Our Take
Credit where it's due: DeFlockILM is doing the unglamorous work of showing up to county commissioner meetings and filming what elected officials actually say when residents ask about license plate readers. David Buzzard's public comment in New Hanover County is exactly the kind of grassroots accountability that keeps Flock Safety's sales pitch honest — or at least on the record.
This is how surveillance expansion gets normalized almost everywhere: a vendor signs a contract, cameras go up, and nobody outside the sheriff's office knows how many there are, who can query them, or what the retention policy really looks like until a citizen stands up at a podium and asks. Whether commissioners listen is a separate question, but the ask itself — transparency, audits, a sunset clause — is the baseline every county in the country should be demanding before signing another renewal.
If you live near New Hanover County or anywhere else with Flock gear bolted to a pole, don't wait for a commissioner meeting to find out. Check our camera map to see what's already been documented nearby, and visit our take-action page for a template to start asking your own local government the same questions Buzzard just asked his.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of DeFlockILM, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.