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License-plate readers · Gaston County

Gaston County

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Gastonia Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
Gastonia's Flock transparency portal (last updated Nov. 21, 2025) counts 572 'LPR and other cameras' without breaking out plate readers. News reports in 2024 described nine plate readers, and a Dec. 2024 approval of 22 grant-funded street video cameras was to bring the city to 43 cameras.
Contract
Flock Safety: $228,900 total · from 2024 · approved by Gastonia City Council · Nine Flock Falcon plate readers: $48,900 in year one including installation, then $45,000 a year for four more years ('just under $230,000' over five years per WBTV). Exact total and approval date not found; amount shown is approximate. (WBTV, Jan. 24, 2024)
Contract
Flock Safety: · from Dec. 2024 · approved by Gastonia City Council · Two-year contract for 22 more cameras, grant-funded; dollar amount not reported. (WBTV, Dec. 4, 2024)
  1. Jan. 2024 WBTV reported in January 2024 that the city council had recently approved buying nine Flock plate-reading cameras, at $48,900 for the first year and $45,000 a year for four more years. (WBTV, Jan. 24, 2024)
  2. March 2024 Gastonia police said their nine plate readers had helped in 122 cases the previous year and that the city wanted 12 more. The department had a $1 million grant toward a planned real-time crime center. The chief said reader data is deleted after 30 days unless tied to a case and is not shared with third parties. (WSOC-TV, March 29, 2024)
  3. Dec. 2024 WBTV reported in early December 2024 that the city council had approved a two-year Flock contract for 22 grant-funded street security cameras, bringing the city to 43 cameras. (WBTV, Dec. 4, 2024)
  4. Nov. 2025 Gastonia's Flock transparency portal listed 30-day retention, 1,122 searches and 2,859 hotlist hits in the prior 30 days, and listed immigration enforcement among prohibited uses. (Flock Safety (agency portal), Nov. 21, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The 2024 approvals are dated by the month the news reports ran; the council meeting dates were not found.

From agency records.

Mount Holly Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
4
4 owned cameras per the Flock transparency portal (page dated Sept. 18, 2024).
  1. Sept. 2024 Mount Holly's Flock portal listed 4 owned cameras, 30-day retention and access for a long list of outside agencies in several states; FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service entries were shown as turned off. (Flock Safety (agency portal), Sept. 18, 2024)
  2. Sept. 2026 WBTV listed Mount Holly police among area agencies with a public Flock transparency portal. (WBTV, Sept. 18, 2026)

From agency records.

Statewide

  1. 2015 Session Law 2015-190 added Article 3D to Chapter 20 of the General Statutes (G.S. 20-183.30 to 20-183.32), the state's rules for police use of automatic license plate readers. Later amendments came in 2021 and 2023. (North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown; North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown; North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown)
  2. 2015 Under G.S. 20-183.31, a state or local law enforcement agency must adopt a written plate-reader policy before its system goes live. The policy must cover the databases used, retention, sharing with other agencies, operator training, supervision, data security and access, audits at least once a year reported to the agency head, and use of systems the agency doesn't run. Data may be used only for law enforcement purposes and not to enforce traffic violations. (North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown)
  3. 2015 Under G.S. 20-183.32, captured plate data may be kept no longer than 90 days unless a sworn written preservation request or a state or federal search warrant applies; preserved data must be destroyed after one year unless the request is renewed. The data is confidential, not a public record, may be shared only with criminal justice officials for a legitimate law enforcement purpose on written request, and may not be sold. Hot lists must be updated every 24 hours or as soon as practicable. (North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown)
  4. 2023 Session Law 2023-151, Section 5, set up a pilot program letting NCDOT make agreements with the State Bureau of Investigation to place fixed plate readers on state-owned right-of-way. It also repealed G.S. 20-183.32A effective Jan. 1, 2024. Session Law 2024-43, Section 3, amended the pilot, which was set to expire July 1, 2026. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026; North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown)
  5. July 2024 Flock Safety obtained the state license it needed in July 2024; the license runs through July 31, 2026, The News & Observer reported, citing the Department of Public Safety. (The News & Observer (republished by AOL; original URL not found), Aug. 12, 2024)
  6. Jan. 2025 The N.C. Association of Chiefs of Police and the N.C. Sheriffs' Association helped the SBI pick the first pilot agencies. Each agency signed a memorandum of understanding with the SBI and could choose its own vendor; cameras on state right-of-way need an NCDOT encroachment approval first. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026)
  7. June 16, 2025 NCDOT approved the first encroachment agreements for plate readers in state right-of-way under the pilot. The first cameras went up July 20, 2025, installed by the Raleigh Police Department. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026)
  8. April 7, 2026 The SBI's initial report to legislative oversight committees said 32 agencies (12 police departments, 19 sheriff's offices and the State Highway Patrol) had asked for 250 cameras on state right-of-way. As of March 15, 2026, 17 agencies had installed 140 camera locations, with 75 more pending, and no data had been kept longer than 90 days. The SBI asked for an extension to July 1, 2028, a statewide coordinator position, $225,000 a year for access to vendors' data (pilot agencies used four vendors) and grants for cameras at state entry points. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026)
  9. July 7, 2026 The state budget, S.L. 2026-41 (Senate Bill 257), was signed. It made the SBI-NCDOT right-of-way plate-reader program permanent and requires the SBI to report on it each year to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety. Similar language had been in House Bill 206 but was removed before that bill passed. The ACLU of North Carolina opposed the provision. (UNC School of Government, North Carolina Criminal Law blog, July 27, 2026; The News & Observer (via GovTech / Tribune Content Agency), July 16, 2026)
  10. July 2026 An NCDOT spokesperson said the department does not install or run the cameras but can inspect them to confirm they sit in approved spots in the right-of-way. (The News & Observer (via GovTech / Tribune Content Agency), July 16, 2026)

State agencies

North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
Administers the state right-of-way program: 140 camera locations installed by 17 agencies as of March 15, 2026.
  1. April 7, 2026 The SBI reported that its own investigators had used plate-reader data in homicide, drug and missing-person cases, and that pilot agencies used four vendors. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026)
  2. July 7, 2026 The budget made the SBI's right-of-way program permanent and added an annual report to lawmakers. (UNC School of Government, North Carolina Criminal Law blog, July 27, 2026)

From agency records.