Here are the county's documents and civil liberties research on Flock's technology. They explain what the program collects and what can be done with those records.
The county's response to public records request 26-256 includes Flock purchase documents, invoices, an ALPR policy and Organization and Network Audit exports. The exports cover August 25, 2025–August 24, 2026. Browse the records (opens in a new tab)
The Flock purchase documents name the Surry County Sheriff's Office as the customer and list nine cameras: eight Falcon readers and one Falcon Flex. The county has paid Flock $64,949 in all. Year one cost $34,989: purchase order 20250285 for $32,700, dated October 2, 2024, paid with tax by check 217215 on October 8, 2024. Year two cost $29,425: invoice INV-76908, $27,500 plus $1,925 tax, paid by check 230195 on November 12, 2025. A repair cost $535, paid by check 240236 on September 25, 2026. Read the purchase documents (opens in a new tab)
We searched the Board of Commissioners’ posted minutes and agendas from 2016 through October 5, 2026. None of them records a Board vote on the Flock contract, and none mentions Flock or license plate readers before residents raised the issue in September 2026. The only Sheriff’s Office camera contract the Board voted on in that period was a 2021 body-camera contract with a different company, WatchGuard Video. (The October 20, 2025 meeting minutes are missing from the county’s posted record.)
County budget records show how little oversight this purchase received. In fiscal year 2025, the Sheriff’s Office “Small Equipment” budget line had $0 budgeted and $32,700 spent, the exact amount of the first Flock purchase order. In an August 26, 2026 email, county staff wrote that Finance “inadvertently changed the code” on that purchase order, and that the cameras are a subscription owned by Flock Group, not county property. The cameras had been on the county’s equipment asset list since 2024 and were removed from it that day.
The Sheriff's Office policy dated August 24, 2026 assigns an administrator to manage sharing agencies and conduct annual audits. Read the policy (opens in a new tab)
A review of 12 monthly Sheriff’s Office Organization Audit files identified 102 entries whose reason text contains “traffic infraction,” among 5,834 total entries. Two additional searches explicitly cited expired registration and inspection violations and were not included in that count. North Carolina law prohibits using ALPR data to enforce traffic violations. County leaders should explain this activity and arrange an independent review. Browse the audit records (opens in a new tab)
Two January 9, 2026 Organization Audit entries give the reason “Traffic Infraction - Confirming driver's travel plans.” These entries deserve an explanation and independent review, particularly because state law prohibits using ALPR data to enforce traffic violations. Read the audit (opens in a new tab)
The 12 monthly Network Audit files, covering August 25, 2025–August 24, 2026, contain 13,684,770 entries by 4,825 organizations. Surry’s own searches account for 5,687 of those entries; the remaining 13.68 million came from 4,824 outside organizations. A separate review of the five most recent files, covering March 25–August 24, 2026, found 6,389,309 entries, including 492,320 whose reason text contains “traffic infraction.” The count ignores capitalization and includes the phrase in both category labels and written explanations. These logs record searches that included Surry County’s shared cameras; an entry does not establish that a Surry camera result was returned. See the files and counting method
These records deserve answers. Our goal is to end the county’s Flock program and remove county-operated cameras because ordinary travel should not become a police-searchable record.
Recounted October 2, 2026 from the county’s released CSV files; the 12-month Network Audit total and organization count were added October 30, 2026. We counted each data record once, excluding the header, then counted records whose Reason field contains “traffic infraction,” ignoring capitalization. Quoted text spanning multiple lines remains one record.
This is a text-match count, not a count of proven violations or a count restricted to one selected offense category. Some matches appear in written explanations. The Organization and Network totals overlap and should not be added together.
Phrase matches were counted for the five most recent files only.
The two expired-registration and inspection entries are excluded from the 102 because their reason text does not contain this phrase. These figures count entries, not unique drivers, incidents, agencies, successful camera matches or enforcement actions.
Explore community-reported ALPR camera locations on DeFlock. Locations are updated as people report them; coverage may be incomplete or outdated. Map by DeFlock · © OpenStreetMap contributors.
One Flock camera sits on East Pine Street near Flat Rock Elementary. Every car that passes is photographed and logged.
Loading the map connects your browser to DeFlock and its providers, including Cloudflare analytics. These services may collect connection and usage information, including your IP address, under their own privacy practices. The map stays unloaded until you choose to open it.
Map by DeFlock · © OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab). Locations reflect community reports.
G.S. 20-183.31 requires a written ALPR policy addressing sharing, oversight, auditing and reporting. Audits and reports are required at least annually. The law also prohibits using ALPR data to enforce traffic violations. Read the statute (opens in a new tab)
Flock describes records containing plate information, time, location and vehicle characteristics. The county’s Flock purchase documents include Vehicle Fingerprint Search, plate-location history and cross-jurisdiction search features. Local search features, purchase document page 4 (opens in a new tab) What the cameras record — EFF (opens in a new tab) · Flock’s surveillance network — ACLU (opens in a new tab)
Flock's optional Enhanced LPR upgrade includes Multi-Geo Search, for finding vehicles seen at multiple selected places and times, and Convoy Search, for finding vehicles traveling together. These optional features are not listed in the county’s Flock purchase documents. Convoy and Multi-Geo searches — EFF court brief (opens in a new tab)
Surry’s Flock order form sets a 30-day retention period, and the Sheriff’s Office policy allows up to 90 days. A month of plate sightings is enough to show a person’s routine, such as trips to work, church or school.
