{"id":86,"date":"2026-05-13T16:38:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T16:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=86"},"modified":"2026-05-13T16:38:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T16:38:41","slug":"nc-town-ends-flock-safety-cameras-contract-siding-with-privacy-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=86","title":{"rendered":"NC town ends Flock Safety cameras contract, siding with privacy rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

The town of Pittsboro has canceled its contract for a controversial system of license-plate readers, siding with privacy rights in a months-long debate over surveillance concerns.<\/p>\n

Read more Full lineup of 40+ artists announced for music festival in downtown Raleigh<\/a><\/p>\n

Pittsboro officials in 2024 installed a series of surveillance cameras over local roads, billed by Flock Safety as a method to root out and deter crime. But the town board voted 4-1 to end the contract Monday night, setting a July 1 deadline for the Atlanta-based company to remove the cameras after an outpouring of concerns from local residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe overwhelming sentiment from our residents is that the potential of abuse, loss of privacy and lack of meaningful guardrails outweigh the benefits that these cameras provide,\u201d Commissioner Candace Hunziker said at the meeting.<\/p>\n

The decision comes just weeks after the Chatham County Board of Commissioners voted to remove<\/a> its Flock cameras, leaving Pittsboro \u2014 which had its own contract with the company \u2014 as the last town in the county with an active Flock system.<\/p>\n

Now, Pittsboro joins a growing list of municipalities<\/a> across the country that are ending their contracts with Flock Safety due to mounting fears of data surveillance.<\/p>\n

Flock Safety cameras \u2014 which watch over more than 5,000 municipalities across the country \u2014 scan vehicles\u2019 license plates and funnel the data into a searchable database, which police and Flock Safety say supports investigations, help make criminal arrests and find missing people.<\/p>\n

But Flock Safety\u2019s history of sharing data with the federal government without local consent has led many local officials to sever their ties with the company.<\/p>\n

Flock Safety has said some local governments unknowingly opted into the federal sharing model. Federal agencies are now no longer a part of statewide lookup services as of 2026, the company wrote earlier this year<\/a>, and sharing with federal agencies is now disabled by default for all local police departments.<\/p>\n

Flock Safety didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment for this story Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Pittsboro Mayor Kyle Shipp said concerns about the details of the town\u2019s contract with Flock Safety are \u201clegitimate.\u201d But he urged the board to continue the surveillance system through the end of the contract in January 2027 under the conditions of adding no additional cameras to the town and continuing the town\u2019s policies of a 30-day data retention limit and monthly audit of searches conducted on the database.<\/p>\n

Read more Murdaugh murder convictions overturned by South Carolina Supreme Court<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an opportunity to continue using this tool while we put the onus on Flock for the contract changes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to the Pittsboro Police Department\u2019s transparency portal<\/a>, the city has nine Flock Safety cameras, with nearly 75,000 vehicles detected over the past 30 days and 61 searches conducted.<\/p>\n

Facial recognition, people, gender and race are not tracked, according to the portal, and searches related to immigration enforcement, traffic enforcement or personal use are prohibited, with all data owned by Pittsboro police.<\/p>\n

At Monday\u2019s meeting Mayor Pro Tem Jay Farrell read a statement from a local business owner who said a truck had been stolen from his business last week and credited the Flock Safety license plate readers for recovering the vehicle within a matter of days.<\/p>\n

In the current digital age, Farrell argued, surveillance is likely unavoidable, from surveillance in cameras in stores to a cellphone\u2019s tracking features.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard the word monitor numerous times from every person who spoke,\u201d Farrell said. \u201cMy question is what about your cell phones, what about computers, what about the toll roads, cameras at Food Lion, Lowes, the convenient store \u2014 where does it end?\u201d<\/p>\n

Commissioners were in agreement about the need for investment in public safety, but several said the message from constituents was clear \u2014 residents want the cameras gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a time of patriotic vigilance when it comes to constitutional violations,\u201d Commissioner John Foley said. \u201cI can\u2019t control our cell phones. I cannot control what\u2019s monitored on my computer, but I can control the Flock cameras in my town. And that is something that is quite compelling for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Murdaugh murder convictions overturned by South Carolina Supreme Court<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 9:00 AM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commissioners voted to cancel the town\u2019s contract with Flock Safety, ordering surveillance camera removal by July 1 amid privacy and data sharing concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":85,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nNC town ends Flock Safety cameras contract, siding with privacy rights - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=86\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NC town ends Flock Safety cameras contract, siding with privacy rights - 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