WECT INVESTIGATES: The status of New Hanover County’s Flock contract, cameras

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Two weeks after New Hanover County Commissioners canceled the county-leased Flock automated license plate readers (ALPRs), the company in charge of them says removal could take two months.

While the commissioners’ 4-0 vote pulled the plug on the 20 ALPRs the county pays for, Flock owns the cameras and is in charge of physical removal. On Monday, when asked why the cameras haven’t been taken down yet, a Flock spokesperson says the process can take up to 60 days, though noted they have been deactivated and are no longer scanning license plates.

New Hanover County is now pushing Flock for a refund on part of their contract. A Sept. 9 email from Chief Financial Officer Eric Credle to Flock asks for a refund of $53,571.43, which accounts for the remaining nine months of the contract for the ALPRs that won’t be utilized.

The county is still unclear on if Flock will fulfill that refund request, a county spokesperson said Monday. So far, the company has only acknowledged receipt of the ALPR cancellation.

The commissioners vote, though, didn’t cover the eight Condor, PTZ (pan, tilt zoom) cameras that provide video surveillance of county parks. The cameras include AI features and can be viewed live. Sheriff Ed McMahon has said the cameras help deter, and investigate, crime at parks. They aren’t used to track people like the ALPRs do, the sheriff has said.

On Monday, commissioners LeAnn Pierce, Stephanie Walker and Rob Zapple said they support discussing the future of the Condor cameras. Zapple said he plans on asking county staff for more information and clarity about the cameras. Currently, nothing has been set to discuss the cameras at a future meeting.

The 20 ALPRs, which captured license plates of passing vehicles, were turned off the day of the commissioners’ vote. The Sheriff’s Office also turned off internal system access and disabled national sharing.

Flock critic Mark Williams, who has led the “DeFlock” movement in the Wilmington area, is pushing commissioners to cancel the PTZ cameras, too, and fully eliminate the Flock contract.

“We’re thankful for what the commissioners did, ok? But they need to go further and cancel the entire contract. It sounded like a cancellation, but in reality, it’s an amendment,” Williams said.

After dozens of Flock critics protested the cameras at a commissioners meeting in August, Williams said another group would show up to a meeting in October if the Condor cameras are still active.