New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon has responded to questions regarding his office’s participation in national data sharing under Flock Safety.
The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office has a $219,000 contract with Flock, which uses 38 cameras – including 19 license plate readers – and artificial intelligence software to track vehicle movement across the county. The data has been searched nearly 3 million times since January 2025, and the names of inquiring agencies have been redacted in public records provided by New Hanover County.
In response to a StarNews report that only 3.9% of 2026 searches were conducted by the office, County Manager Chris Coudriet asked McMahon how and why an outside agency would want access to New Hanover’s Flock data,
according to public records emails.
In an emailed response on Aug. 12, McMahon wrote that New Hanover’s Flock cameras are part of a network that allows for participating agencies across the country to search for specific vehicles when conducting investigations. The New Hanover County Sheriff's Office opted in to the program as it allows the investigators to “develop leads that may extend beyond our jurisdiction,” McMahon wrote.
McMahon stated that local cameras do not have to return information relevant to external investigations in order for other agencies to gain access. Cameras detected 726,459 unique license plates throughout August, according to the office’s transparency portal.
“For example, if a law enforcement agency in Texas is investigating a stolen vehicle and conducts a qualifying search for a specific license plate through Flock, that search may also query participating cameras in New Hanover County,” McMahon wrote. “If that vehicle has never been in New Hanover County, our cameras would return no matching information.”
McMahon wrote that investigators are able to track vehicles across state lines using information shared by other participating agencies. He also emphasized that the database is not publicly accessible, and searches associated with individual users are subject to auditing and accountability measures.
Public Information Officer Jerry Brewer said they have seen "numerous positive outcomes from the use of Flock cameras, both locally and in jurisdictions outside of North Carolina." The office's transparency portal notes that investigators have used New Hanover's cameras to thwart drug trafficking, vehicle theft and a bank robbery.
At the Aug. 17 commissioner meeting, 41 residents spoke against the county’s Flock agreement. Mark Spencer Williams, an attorney leading the movement through DeFlock ILM requested that the county pause automated nationwide sharing while the program is under review, provide the unredacted audit records and hold a public hearing in September where all parties can have their voices heard.
In a statement shared on social media, Board of Commissioners Chair LeAnn Pierce said the county owes its residents a “thoughtful, comprehensive review” of its Flock agreement.
“That review must, at a minimum, consider certain safeguards raised by our community, including reducing the length of data retention, eliminating nationwide searches, requiring a case number or legitimate law enforcement purpose for each search, and conducting frequent audits of system use,” Pierce wrote.
Daniel Sheehan covers New Hanover County for the StarNews. Reach him at dsheehan@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: New Hanover sheriff responds to Flock data sharing questions
