Pitt County Attempted Murder Suspect Wanted | Flock Camera Meeting & National Lasagna Day

Our Take

WCTI News 12 out of Eastern North Carolina packed a real story into a three-minute local roundup: tonight, Sheriff Jackie Rogers is holding a public meeting in Kinston to answer questions about Flock Safety cameras in Lenoir County — what they do, how investigators use them, and what privacy concerns residents have raised. That's genuinely useful local accountability journalism, and credit to the station for covering it at all. Most counties roll out ALPR networks with zero public meeting, zero vote, and zero notice.

But look at where that item landed: sandwiched between an attempted murder manhunt and a segment on National Lasagna Day. That's not a knock on the reporters — it's just how local news works, cramming everything into a tight rundown. The problem is what it does to our brains. Violent crime creates urgency, Flock cameras get framed as part of the solution, and then lasagna resets the mood before anyone has to sit with the actual question: should a sheriff's office be logging every car that passes through town, indefinitely, without a warrant? A five-minute Q&A session at a sheriff's annex is not the same as real oversight, a data retention policy, or a county commission vote.

If you're in Lenoir County, showing up to that meeting and asking pointed questions about retention periods, data sharing with other agencies, and audit logs matters more than it might seem. Check our camera map to see what's already deployed near you, and use our take-action guide to push for actual policy, not just a town hall.