JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – A social media post from the City of Jacksonville said the city does not own or operate any Flock cameras.<\/p>\n
The post, made Tuesday afternoon, has drawn hundreds of comments from people asking questions, mainly about who owns the cameras and who has access to them.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville City Manager Josh Ray said he knows four locations in Jacksonville that have Flock cameras, including Lowe\u2019s and the Jacksonville Mall.<\/p>\n
Ray said the city does not regulate Flock cameras and that businesses are not required to get a permit from the city to have them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the city required permits for camera systems, then every residence would have to have a permit to have a Ring doorbell camera or just to have a security system on the outside because typically those cameras can see more than your property,\u201d Ray said.<\/p>\n
Ray said the Flock cameras in the city are on private property and the city does not regulate camera installation on private property.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlock cameras that are in the city are on private property, and the city does not regulate camera installation on private property. So, if a person has a concern about a camera on that, we don\u2019t regulate those. So for them, they would need to manage their trips to that private property if they\u2019re concerned about it,\u201d Ray said.<\/p>\n
Ray said the city has no access to the cameras and said the police department has never asked a private business for Flock camera footage. He said how businesses choose to use the cameras is up to them.<\/p>\n
Onslow County resident Christian Sierra said he worries about not knowing who has access to the cameras.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find that a little more concerning, to be honest with you. If you\u2019re not using them, who is, and you can\u2019t, and you don\u2019t know who is?\u201d Sierra said.<\/p>\n
Ray said the cameras on private property do read license plates, but the systems do not process that information to look up details on vehicles or owners.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe benefit for them is like any other system that they would have. Maybe they use it as a theft deterrent, maybe they\u2019re just managing their property. The camera system that they choose isn\u2019t connected to a state or federal database, so it would not have a license plate reader installed on that camera,\u201d Ray said.<\/p>\n
Ray said the cameras read and store license plate information, but that information is not processed to look up data on a vehicle or its owner. He said the footage and data are available to police or the sheriff\u2019s office, if requested.<\/p>\n
The Onslow County Sheriff\u2019s Office said it does not have Flock cameras but has 12 Ranger cameras that started to be phased in during the spring.<\/p>\n
Ranger cameras, also known as PlateRanger, are an artificial intelligence-powered automated license plate recognition and vehicle intelligence system.<\/p>\n
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