Lawmakers passed a state budget early last month that allows automated license plate readers on all state roads and highways. That decision has sparked debate about the balance between safety and privacy.
WFDD listener Alice Knott wanted to know more about the Flock cameras popping up in the Triad. Like, who decides where they go and who has access to the data? WFDD’s Rachel Moody answers those questions and more on this week’s edition of Carolina Curious.
Automated license plate readers or ALPRs are camera systems that capture and analyze vehicle plates and information.
Many law enforcement agencies across the Triad have already been using the technology for several years, including in Greensboro and Winston-Salem.
Greensboro Police Department’s Sergeant Eric Early works in the Real Time Information Center. He says his team chooses camera locations based on high call volume and electrical availability.
"The streets are safer because of ALPR technology," Early says. "I've seen very violent offenders quickly apprehended when just a few years ago it may have taken hours, days, weeks, if ever."
Moore County Sheriff’s Office charged a man for triple homicide last week using evidence from Flock cameras.
Still, many are concerned automated license plate readers are an intrusion of privacy and civil liberties. A police officer in Iredell County was recently arrested for allegedly using the system to track her boyfriend's ex-wife.
Zac Contreras, a spokesperson for the ACLU of North Carolina, says there aren’t enough regulations to prevent abuse of ALPRs.
“It really doesn't make any type of sense that this is something that law enforcement agencies should have at their fingertips," Contreras says. "And so that's what we're concerned with, and the types of civil rights violations that are occurring because this is effectively warrantless tracking.”
In North Carolina, it’s up to the individual agencies to decide which law enforcement organizations they share data with — state, local or national. But state law says officials must give a valid reason for requesting or sharing data on a specific vehicle.
Still, it hasn’t stopped pushback against the technology.
In Davidson County, community members are fighting to get ALPRs banned altogether. Commissioners will be voting on the matter next Monday.