Charlotte Seeks New ALPR Vendor as Two Local Officers Face Flock Misuse Charges

First reported: September 30, 2026 · 1 source

Charlotte residents questioned Flock Safety representatives at a public meeting at Harding University High School as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department works to replace its aging license plate reader system. The City of Charlotte's request for proposals, open until October 5, seeks a vendor certified by the North Carolina Alarm Systems Licensing Board to build a centralized management platform. Flock representatives did not say whether the company would bid, and other bidders are unknown. The procurement is proceeding while two nearby officers face charges over alleged unauthorized Flock database searches.

Why this matters

Charlotte's vendor decision tests whether audit controls and retention limits are written into an ALPR contract before deployment rather than after, in a state that has just expanded highway ALPR authority while at least one city has cancelled its Flock contract.

Key facts

Charlotte's RFP for an ALPR vendor closes October 5; CMPD does not currently own stationary Flock cameras but has made more than 4,600 queries into other agencies' Flock networks via data-sharing agreements, per the Cape Fear Beacon.
CMPD Officer Seth Daniel Elliott was arrested July 29 by the NC State Bureau of Investigation and charged with misdemeanor illegal access of a computer, accused of querying Flock and CJLEADS databases to leak an undercover officer's vehicle details; the charges are allegations and have not been adjudicated.
Mooresville Police Officer Elizabeth Snowman was arrested August 5 and charged with accessing computers after an internal audit allegedly found 31 unauthorized Flock searches and fraudulent case justifications.
Flock representative Jalen Johnson said the company helped return more than 10,000 missing people in 2025, assisted over one million investigations, and that plate data is deleted after seven days; activist Daniel Oria argued the systems collect data on people not suspected of any crime.
North Carolina's budget, enacted July 7, permanently authorized ALPRs along state highway rights-of-way and lets local departments access the statewide network through SBI agreements; Asheville's council voted 5-2 on August 25 to end its Flock contract and remove 11 cameras.

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

Charlotte Weighs Flock Cameras as Officer Misuse Scandals Loom Over October Contract (Hoodline, September 30, 2026)

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About this record

BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.

Updated October 1, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.