Click here for updates on this story
DAVIE COUNTY, N.C. (WXII) — License plate reader cameras, which can be found present in every county across the Triad, are at the center of a privacy debate in Davie County, where commissioners approved a $4.3 million contract for the Safe County Initiative that continues their current use of Flock Camera technology for the next five years.
Law enforcement officials, including Davie County Sheriff JD Hartman, emphasize the importance of the specific Flock system and other license plate readers in solving crimes and locating missing persons.
“The Flock cameras that we have, all they do is take a picture of the back of your car and run that tag through the NCIC,” Hartman said.
The NCIC, or National Crime Information Center database, allows law enforcement to determine if a vehicle is connected to a crime.
“You have no expectation of privacy on a public road. I’m not looking in your car. I’m not running facial recognition on you when you drive by,” Hartman said.
However, some residents have expressed concerns about potential privacy violations, alleging that law enforcement can see more than they admit to. At least one camera in Davie County and another in Surry County have been vandalized.
“We have already had one Flock Camera damaged this week. Somebody spray-painted the road in front of it ‘free the people’ and tried to spray paint the camera over,” Hartman said.
In Mooresville, an audit revealed that at least one officer had improperly used license plate readers for personal reasons. Hartman said Davie County is taking steps to prevent such misuse.
“The chief deputy and I do random audits individually,” Hartman said. “And our professional standards unit every 90 days does a deep audit and sends me a written report.”
While Flock deletes photos every 30 days, the system retains a record of every search conducted tied to deputies’ names and ID numbers.
“What does get kept is data watching us, the officers, so we can look and see if somebody’s misusing it, which I think is a big reason that some of the officers that know better are out there doing things they should, and we’re catching them and prosecuting them,” Hartman said.
Hartman also addressed concerns about other types of license plate readers, which are not used in the Triad, that have Bluetooth capabilities to scan devices as vehicles pass by.
“That type of technology won’t be used, not as long as I’m Sheriff; it won’t be here. I firmly believe that’s a type of intrusion that requires a search warrant,” Hartman said. “I’m not going to use it to violate your rights. I’m not going to use it. Look inside your car and see what you are looking at on your smartwatch. At least not unless we have a probable cause reason.”
The Davie County Sheriff’s Office has also begun integration for drones as a first responder to assist with calls where air travel will arrive to a scene or suspect chase faster than deputies could.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.