{"id":177,"date":"2026-05-15T10:04:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=177"},"modified":"2026-05-15T10:04:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:04:43","slug":"sbi-wants-license-plate-scanners-covering-all-entrances-and-exits-to-nc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=177","title":{"rendered":"SBI wants license-plate scanners covering \u2018all entrances and exits\u2019 to NC"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Every point of entry to North Carolina could be covered by the watchful eye of an automatic license plate reader in the near future, according to a State Bureau of Investigation report prepared for members of the General Assembly.<\/p>\n

Read more Gunfire in the middle of the night kills one person, wounds a second, CMPD says<\/a><\/p>\n

At least, that\u2019s one goal of the SBI\u2019s pilot program allowing the surveillance tech to operate along state-maintained roads, the report says.<\/p>\n

Over 100 cameras have been set up on state rights-of-way from Raleigh to Ocean Isle Beach as of early April. And the cameras have captured over 150 million scans of plates, according to the report reviewed by The News & Observer. According to the N.C. Department of Transportation, there are only about 6.7 million passenger vehicles registered in the state.<\/p>\n

The program is overseen by the SBI and the NCDOT. Local law enforcement agencies decide whether to opt into the program.<\/p>\n

Thirty-two agencies across the state are in the program, which became effective in 2024. That list includes the Raleigh Police Department, Wake County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department and UNC Charlotte Police Department.<\/p>\n

Some agencies that have opted in haven\u2019t installed cameras yet. But 140 automatic license plate readers have been installed along state rights-of-way by over half of the departments that do have cameras, as of earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Along with seeking a program extension until 2028, the SBI is asking state legislators to provide grants to local law enforcement agencies to install the cameras.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe focus of these grants would be on major interstates and highways with the goal of covering all entrances and exits to North Carolina,\u201d SBI Director Chip Hawley\u2019s report said.<\/p>\n

The N&O reached out to lawmakers on the two committees that SBI submitted its report to for comment about what the expansion could mean for North Carolina. Staffers for two elected officials said Thursday they likely couldn\u2019t comment given busy schedules. The rest have not responded.<\/p>\n

Local leaders have voted to terminate contracts with license-plate scanner vendors, The N&O has reported, after fierce community backlash and concerns over privacy from residents.<\/p>\n

The agencies that opted into the program include a dozen police departments, 19 sheriff\u2019s offices and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Not all of them have installed cameras yet. Only 17 have their networks up and running.<\/p>\n

The report shows the Burlington Police Department and the Harnett County Sheriff\u2019s Office each have 20 scanner locations, the highest of the agencies currently involved in the SBI\u2019s pilot.<\/p>\n

More cameras doesn\u2019t always equate to more license plate reads, the report indicates. In comparison to Burlington or Harnett County\u2019s 20, the Raleigh Police Department only has three cameras.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019ve logged over 14.8 million license plate captures, according to data collected through late March and provided in the report.<\/p>\n

Read more CMPD raids east Charlotte gambling arcade, seizes nearly $40,000 and 62 devices<\/a><\/p>\n

The data provided in the state report was submitted \u201cwithout further breakdown\u201d from the state agencies that are in the program, SBI public information director Chad Flowers told The N&O. The report doesn\u2019t include, for example, the number of North Carolina license plates scanned or the number of scans of plates from out-of-state.<\/p>\n

At least nine of the agencies involved in the SBI pilot program are using Flock Safety cameras or have access to its database, according to standard operating procedures attached to the report, which was delivered to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety and the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee.<\/p>\n

Other enrolled agencies are using cameras from Leonardo US Cyber and Security Solutions, Motorola, and Verkada, Flowers said.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement officials tout the technology as a way to catch violent criminals and solve cases. The SBI included over two dozen \u201csuccess stories\u201d in its reports to elected officials.<\/p>\n

The cameras have helped locate a vehicle in a homicide case after the suspect fled to South Carolina and to find a missing child, according to the narratives included in the report.<\/p>\n

But data captured by the cameras have also led law enforcement officials to make mistakes, The N&O has reported<\/a>. That\u2019s what happened o Jacqueline McNeill, a Fayetteville woman who was arrested in 2022 after police using the technology wrongly identified her car as part of a shooting investigation.<\/p>\n

McNeill won a $60,000 settlement.<\/p>\n

Some local governments are turning away from contracts with scanner companies due to intense backlash from community members.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Hillsborough<\/a> Board of Commissioners ended the town\u2019s contract.<\/p>\n

While Flock\u2019s services could benefit officers, \u201cwe also have to weigh the potential negative impacts that the program may present to the community as a whole,\u201d Hillsborough Mayor Mark Bell and Police Chief Jason Winn said in a joint statement at the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More recently, Pittsboro<\/a> Commissioner Tina Thurber evoked Benjamin Franklin in an effort to sway her colleagues to terminate the town\u2019s contract with Flock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little bit of temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety,\u201d Thurber said, quoting the founding father, during a mid-May meeting.<\/p>\n

The town board voted 4-1 to end its partnership with Flock. The company was given a July 1 deadline to remove the cameras, The N&O reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

Nationally, Flock has been under scrutiny for the types of data it makes available for its clients and because some live-streaming surveillance cameras were left open to the public, 404 Media has reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 5:55 AM<\/span> with the headline “SBI wants license-plate scanners covering \u2018all entrances and exits\u2019 to NC.” <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Carolina Panthers release 2026 NFL schedule. Here\u2019s where and when they play<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The SBI wants license plate scanners on all entrances and exits to North Carolina, expanding a pilot program amid privacy concerns and local pushback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nSBI wants license-plate scanners covering \u2018all entrances and exits\u2019 to NC - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=177\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SBI wants license-plate scanners covering \u2018all entrances and exits\u2019 to NC - 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