Have questions about Flock cameras? Apex forum offers chance for answers

An Apex councilman will host an open forum about automated license plate readers (ALPRs) next week.

People can ask questions and share feedback. The forum comes as Flock cameras have come under public scrutiny across the country due to transparency and misuse concerns.

Apex leaders are also considering the technology’s future in the town.

Edward Gray’s event focused on ALPRs is scheduled for Oct. 22 at 5 p.m. at Apex Town Hall. No formal presentation by town staff is planned, according to the town's website.

Calls for more transparency

According to its Flock Transparency Portal, Apex police have eight Flock cameras and retain captured data for seven days.

The portal does not note where the cameras are located.

Some locals started a resident advocacy group called "DeFlock Apex" pushing back against automated license plate readers.

"We are Apex, the peak of good living, not the peak of surveillance," one resident said at an August 11 meeting. "Photographing every car in this town, that's radical," said another.

A nationwide effort, DeFlock, uses crowdsourced information to map ALPR locations across the country.

“We help communities hold their government and surveillance vendors accountable and understand where and how they're being watched,” according to the website.

The site identifies 8,209 ALPRs in North Carolina. According to DeFlock, 89% of the ALPRs are Flock cameras; a small percentage of the cameras are owned by Axis Communications or Motorola Solutions.

Are ALPR cameras capturing your license plate?

Apex Police Department is one of the agencies that publishes redacted audit logs 30 days at a time through its transparency portal. However, not every agency takes that step.

In an effort to address the gap, the website Have I Been Flocked aggregates public information to publish audit logs from police agencies across the country.

The website allows you to search a license plate or even submit audit logs obtained through public records requests.

However, the website operators admit that the information is incomplete and could have “significant historical gaps.”

The most recent data is from late September due to long wait times to receive requested documents and heavy redaction once received, according to the website.