Chatham County police defend Flock license-plate cameras as commissioners press for tighter controls

Chatham County Police Chief Hadley briefed the commission on crime trends and the department's use of the Flock license-plate-camera system, saying it is a key investigative tool that detects license plates only, does not perform facial recognition and operates under a transparency portal and internal audits.

"It only detects license plates," Chief Hadley said, adding that the system's data is purged on a rolling 30-day basis. He described the department's transparency portal that allows public review of searches and the steps taken to strengthen accountability, including an audit that covered searches back to January 2025. Commissioners asked detailed questions about how search reasons are recorded, whether agencies outside the county can query Chatham County networks, and contractual protections for county data. Chief Hadley said queries must be tied to a police report or CAD number and that external networks can be queried when agencies share networks, which can increase the number of networks returned in a search.

Several commissioners voiced privacy concerns and asked staff to review the county's legal agreements and consider policy limits. Commissioner Whiteland urged deeper discussion of containing access and said the county should explore stronger safeguards and possibly consider banning facial recognition technologies, citing peer-reviewed studies showing false-identification risks. County staff offered to bring Flock representatives to a board retreat and to make policy materials available to the public for review.