WNC -- August 7, 2026: They sit along roads and intersections, photographing vehicles as they pass.
Automated license plate readers, including cameras made by Flock Safety, have become an increasingly common law enforcement tool across Western North Carolina. Asheville, Buncombe County and several smaller WNC communities use the technology to help identify vehicles connected to crimes, locate stolen vehicles and assist investigators.
But Western North Carolina is not moving in one direction.
While Asheville is preparing to integrate its Flock cameras into a larger Real-Time Intelligence Center, Macon County commissioners recently voted unanimously to stop county funding for their Flock camera program.
The different approaches provide a useful look at a technology that is becoming increasingly common — and increasingly debated.
Asheville has 11 Flock cameras
The Asheville Police Department currently operates 11 Flock automated license plate readers.
The cameras do not continuously record video like traditional surveillance cameras. Instead, they capture still images of passing vehicles, generally including the vehicle and its license plate.
APD Technology Supervisor Jimmy Wingo recently told 828newsNOW that only 18 people within the department are authorized to search the system.
Officers conducting searches must document a law enforcement reason and provide a case number when one exists. During an immediate investigation, such as a shooting in which a case number has not yet been assigned, a documented reason is still required.
APD says searches are audited quarterly.
The distinction between collection and access is important.
The cameras photograph passing vehicles automatically. Police do not have to suspect a driver of a crime before the vehicle is photographed. The restrictions govern how officers can subsequently search and use the collected information.
Flock says its license plate reader technology does not use facial recognition.
Buncombe County operates a larger system
Asheville's cameras represent only part of the Flock network operating in Buncombe County.
The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office has been reported to operate 20 stationary and two mobile Flock license plate readers.
The Sheriff's Office also operates a Real-Time Intelligence Center, allowing personnel to combine information from multiple sources during investigations and active incidents.
Other communities in Buncombe County have also adopted the technology.
Public records compiled by the Atlas of Surveillance have documented five Flock readers in Black Mountain and two license plate readers in Biltmore Forest.
Biltmore Forest has also used Flock Condor video cameras equipped with video analytics. Those cameras are different from automated license plate readers but demonstrate the broader expansion of camera technology available to local law enforcement.
Macon County chose to remove its cameras
About 65 miles west of Asheville, Macon County recently went in the opposite direction.
On July 14, Macon County commissioners voted unanimously to prohibit county funding from being used for the Sheriff's Office's Flock camera program.
The county had budgeted approximately $47,000 for the system and had 12 county-owned Flock cameras.
Commissioners directed that those cameras be removed even though the existing contract runs through October.
Four Flock cameras located on school property were not affected by the county's decision.
The vote followed extensive public discussion in which residents raised concerns about privacy, surveillance and the collection of vehicle information.
The Macon County Sheriff's Office supported keeping the cameras.
Chief Deputy Derek Jones told commissioners that deputies had used the system in investigations and to help locate missing people, including people with dementia and missing children.
Following the vote, the Sheriff's Office said it would respect the commissioners' decision.
The action does not eliminate every Flock camera operating within Macon County. Privately owned cameras and cameras outside county control were not included in the commissioners' decision.
Macon County's vote illustrates how differently local governments can evaluate the same technology.
Haywood County decided to keep its system
Neighboring Haywood County reached a different conclusion.
Following Macon County's decision, Haywood County officials reviewed questions surrounding the technology but continued using the county's Flock system.
That creates an unusual regional comparison.
Within a relatively small area of Western North Carolina, one county has chosen to discontinue county funding for the cameras while neighboring jurisdictions continue using them.
Those decisions are being made locally rather than through a single statewide policy requiring communities to either adopt or reject Flock.
The technology extends beyond Asheville
Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers have also appeared elsewhere across the mountains.
Publicly available records have documented 15 Flock readers operated by the Madison County Sheriff's Office and nine operated by the Avery County Sheriff's Office.
The exact number of cameras operating across WNC can change as departments purchase equipment, contracts expire, cameras are relocated or local governments reconsider their programs.
There are also privately operated license plate readers that are not necessarily included in law enforcement camera totals.
That means the number of cameras owned by a police department or sheriff's office does not necessarily represent every license plate reader operating within that community.
What information does a Flock camera collect?
Flock's automated license plate readers photograph vehicles as they pass a camera.
The system can capture a license plate along with an image of the vehicle, location and time.
That information allows an authorized investigator to search for a particular vehicle or plate.
The system can also generate alerts when a plate associated with a stolen or wanted vehicle passes a camera.
A license plate hit, however, does not establish who is driving the vehicle.
The plate identifies the vehicle's registration. Officers still have to investigate who was operating it and whether that person was involved in a crime.
How long is the information stored?
North Carolina law establishes specific rules for law enforcement use of automated license plate readers.
Captured plate information generally cannot be retained for more than 90 days.
Asheville's system uses a substantially shorter period.
APD says its Flock information is automatically deleted after 30 days.
There are exceptions under state law.
Information can be preserved longer pursuant to a state or federal search warrant or a qualifying preservation request connected to an ongoing criminal investigation, missing-person investigation or certain other authorized purposes.
North Carolina law also makes captured plate information confidential and generally excludes it from public records.
Law enforcement agencies operating ALPR systems are required to maintain written policies addressing issues including access, retention, information sharing, training, security, supervision and auditing.
Why auditing matters
A recent case elsewhere in North Carolina demonstrates why those safeguards are important.
On Aug. 5, Mooresville Police Officer Elizabeth Anne Snowman was arrested after investigators accused her of improperly accessing license plate reader information.
Mooresville Police Chief Ron Campurciani said Snowman used the system 31 times for personal purposes involving her boyfriend's ex-wife.
The activity was discovered through an audit.
Two days later, Mooresville police confirmed the department was examining additional cases of possible improper access.
The allegations do not involve Asheville, Buncombe County or other Western North Carolina officers.
But the case provides a real-world example of both the potential for misuse and the importance of maintaining records showing who searches an ALPR system and why.
APD says unauthorized searches can result in disciplinary action and that its own searches are audited quarterly.
Asheville is moving toward greater integration
The discussion in Asheville extends beyond the city's 11 Flock cameras.
On May 12, Asheville City Council approved acceptance of a $1.14 million federal grant for development of a Real-Time Intelligence Center at APD.
The center is intended to bring information from several existing technologies into a centralized operation where personnel can provide information to officers and investigators in real time.
Flock cameras will be one component of that system.
The grant does not mean Asheville is purchasing $1.14 million worth of Flock cameras.
The larger development is the ability to integrate information from different law enforcement technologies and make it available more quickly during an incident.
Police say that can help officers identify suspects, locate vehicles, recover stolen property and respond more effectively to serious crimes.
Residents speaking before Asheville City Council have questioned how increasingly interconnected surveillance systems will affect privacy and how collected information will be protected.
A technology WNC communities are weighing differently
Automated license plate readers are no longer experimental technology in Western North Carolina.
They are already operating on roads throughout the region.
For law enforcement, the attraction is straightforward: a camera can potentially identify a vehicle connected to a serious crime within seconds and provide investigators with information that previously might have taken considerably longer to obtain.
The privacy question is equally straightforward: the cameras collect information about vehicles traveling public roads whether or not their occupants are suspected of wrongdoing.
North Carolina law places restrictions on how that information can be retained and used, while individual departments establish additional policies governing access and auditing.
Western North Carolina communities are now deciding for themselves where that balance should fall.
Asheville and Buncombe County continue using the technology. Haywood County has kept its system. Macon County commissioners voted to stop county funding and remove 12 county-owned cameras. Other mountain counties continue operating their own networks.
Those differences may become increasingly important as Real-Time Intelligence Centers and interconnected law enforcement technologies become more common.
The question facing WNC communities is no longer simply whether automated license plate readers are coming.
In many places, they're already here.