In July 2026, Macon Media made a public records request regarding the Flock camera system and its operation in Macon County. Today, October 09, 2026, I (Bobby) received a reply. First, here is the request I made, followed by a copy of the response from the county attorney:
Public Records Request for Macon County Flock Safety Cameras
As an independent citizen journalist covering local government in Macon County for over 16 years, I have submitted a public records request to the Macon County Sheriff’s Office for documents related to the Flock Safety automated license plate reader system. This request seeks contracts, board approvals, usage policies, camera locations, performance data, and related correspondence to promote full transparency and public accountability in how this surveillance technology is funded, deployed, and operated with taxpayer resources. By making these records available, we can separate facts from myths, address community concerns about privacy and effectiveness, and ensure informed civic dialogue about tools that impact public safety and individual rights in our rural mountain community.
| from: | Bobby Coggins robertcogginsjr@gmail.com | ||
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| date: | Jul 11, 2026, 2:13 AM | ||
| subject: | Public Records Request – Flock Safety Cameras / ALPR / License Plate Reader Contract & Related Documents – Macon County Sheriff’s Office | ||
| mailed-by: | gmail.com |
Sheriff’s Office Public Records Custodian,
Pursuant to the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. Chapter 132), I request the following records related to Flock Safety (or any automated license plate reader/ALPR system):
- All contracts, agreements, amendments, proposals, invoices, payment records, and correspondence between Macon County Sheriff’s Office (or County) and Flock Safety (or Flock Group, Inc.), including any subscription, installation, maintenance, or data access terms.
- Board of Commissioners agendas, minutes, resolutions, motions, or approvals authorizing the purchase, funding, or use of Flock cameras (including budget line items from FY 2023–2024 onward).
- Policies, procedures, manuals, training materials, or guidelines for use of the Flock system by Sheriff’s Office personnel (including access controls, data retention, audit logs, and privacy protections).
- Any usage statistics, reports, or summaries on camera performance, alerts generated, cases assisted, or data shared (redacted as necessary for law enforcement sensitivity).
- Location list or map of all deployed Flock cameras in Macon County.
- Any privacy impact assessments, legal opinions, or correspondence regarding compliance with NC law or data sharing.
Preferred format: Electronic copies (PDF/email) where possible. I am willing to pay reasonable costs; please notify me in advance if fees will exceed $50.
Please provide these records as soon as practicable. If any portion is denied, please provide a written explanation with the specific legal basis and contact information for appeal.
Thank you for your assistance. I can be reached at robertciogginsjr@gmail.com.
Sincerely, Bobby Coggins, Publisher Macon Media [robertciogginsjr@gmail.com]
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| 9:49 AM (23 minutes ago) | |||
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Dear Sir or Madam:
You are receiving this email because you submitted a public records request to Macon County seeking records related to the Flock Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) system. Macon County has received five substantially similar requests.
This email is being sent using blind-copy distribution to protect the privacy of each requester. The purpose of this email is to determine whether you would be interested in sharing your name and email address with the other individuals who submitted similar requests so that you may discuss whether to coordinate your requests and potentially share the costs associated with producing this record.
As some of you may have been previously advised, when Macon County's contract with Flock Safety ended, the County was initially unable to access the associated data. The Macon County Sheriff's Office has recently obtained permission from Flock to access the data generated during the last 12 months that the system was active.
Because of the volume of records involved, producing the requested information will require substantial clerical, supervisory, and information technology resources to locate, review, compile, redact, and produce the records in a legally permissible format. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 132-6.2, the County will seek to recover the actual costs associated with responding to requests that require extensive personnel or information technology resources.
To assist you in evaluating whether you may wish to coordinate with the other requesters, please note the following:
- The Sheriff's Office has obtained access to 12 months of historical Flock ALPR data.
- Certain information contained within the records must be redacted before release. In particular, license plate information entered into the system by law enforcement personnel is confidential and not a public record and cannot be disclosed. [See NCGS §20-183.32 and §20-183.33].
- Macon County does not maintain, and does not have access to, any record identifying all local, state, or federal law enforcement agencies that may have received or had access to shared ALPR data through the Flock platform.
- The Sheriff's Office has completed the review and redaction process for approximately three of the twelve months of responsive records and has used that work to develop a preliminary cost estimate.
Based on the review completed thus far:
- Three Sheriff's Office employees, with hourly wage rates averaging $27.43, $33.04, and $44.12, have each spent at least nine hours reviewing records, compiling responsive data, and making required redactions for 3 of the 12 months of records.
- Based on the work completed to date, the estimated labor cost for reviewing, compiling, and redacting the full twelve-month period is approximately $3,765.
In addition, the records were provided by Flock Safety in spreadsheet digital format. At present, the Sheriff's Office believes the records may need to be produced in paper form to ensure the integrity of the required redactions. If so, production is estimated to require approximately 5,000 to 10,000 pages, resulting in an additional copying cost of approximately $250 to $500 based on the County's current copy fee schedule. Notwithstanding, Chief Deputy Dereck Jones is scheduled to meet with the County's Information Technology Director within the next week to determine whether the records can instead be produced in a properly redacted .pdf electronic format. If a digital production option is feasible, the overall production cost may be reduced.
Based on the information currently available, the County's conservative estimate for reviewing, compiling, redacting, and producing the requested records is approximately $4,015 to $4,265.
If you would like the County to share your name and email address with the other individuals who submitted similar requests, please reply to this email and indicate your consent. Upon receiving consent, I will provide your contact information to the other consenting requesters.
Thank you,
In return, I (Bobby) and volunteers, will digitize this data and make it available (as it should have been from the start) to the public to view and/or download for their own records?
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