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License-plate readers · Wake County

Wake County

Using license-plate readers · 4 agencies documented

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Apex Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
10
10 Flock cameras under the contract, installed later in 2025 (INDY Week).
Contract
Flock Safety: · from Jan. 14, 2025 · to Jan. 2027 · approved by Apex Town Council · Expires January 2027 unless renewed. (INDY Week, April 27, 2026)
  1. Jan. 14, 2025 The Town Council approved a Flock contract for 10 cameras. (INDY Week, April 27, 2026)
  2. April 2026 Chief Ryan Johansen told INDY Week data is shared only with local departments, not federal agencies, and that he set a procedure requiring a case or incident number for searches. (INDY Week, April 27, 2026)

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Cary Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
Cary PD owns no plate readers. It can search about a dozen privately owned Flock cameras in town, seven at Lowe's and Home Depot stores (INDY Week, April 2026).
  1. March 2025 An agreement with private property owners giving Cary police access to their Flock cameras took effect. (INDY Week, April 27, 2026)
  2. April 2026 INDY Week reported about 3,200 searches by Cary police over a little more than a year; about 39% listed a case number and about 58% gave no reason. (INDY Week, April 27, 2026)
  3. Aug. 2026 Axios reported Cary has no Flock contract and operates no cameras, but can use cameras of private owners who consent. (Axios Raleigh, Aug. 31, 2026)

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Garner Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
20
20 cameras owned and operated, per its Flock transparency portal as cited by INDY Week (April 2026).

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Raleigh Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
32
32 cameras listed on RPD's Flock transparency portal (updated Nov. 2, 2025). Three of them are in state right-of-way under the SBI program (SBI report, March 15, 2026). INDY Week cited a crowd-sourced map estimating about 60 Flock cameras in the city, including privately owned ones.
Contract
Flock Safety: $75,000 year · City says RPD pays about $75,000 a year; contract term not stated. (City of Raleigh, Sept. 10, 2026)
  1. Dec. 5, 2023 RPD's directive 1110-07 on plate readers and IP cameras took effect. It covers mobile, temporary fixed and fixed readers, requires the chief to approve fixed locations, sets deletion within 90 days unless preserved under state law, requires annual audits, and allows sharing with other agencies only on written request approved by the chief or a designee. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026)
  2. July 20, 2025 RPD installed the first cameras under the state right-of-way pilot. Its three state right-of-way cameras captured about 14.8 million plates through March 15, 2026, and generated 956 NCIC alerts from July 2025 through January 2026, 227 of them for stolen vehicles. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026)
  3. Nov. 2, 2025 RPD's Flock transparency portal listed 32 cameras, NCIC and NCMEC Amber Alert hot lists, 1,244 searches in the previous 30 days, and immigration enforcement among prohibited uses. (Flock Safety (agency transparency portal), Nov. 2, 2025)
  4. Sept. 10, 2026 The city's Flock page says RPD deletes data after 30 days unless it is preserved for a case, audits use monthly, does not give ICE access for immigration purposes but will provide data in response to legal process tied to criminal activity, and reported 87 stolen vehicles recovered and 134 cases cleared in 2025. (City of Raleigh, Sept. 10, 2026; Axios Raleigh, Aug. 31, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • RPD's transparency portal lists a 30-day retention period but labels the policy "90days"; the city's Flock page says 30 days.

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.