Big brother or big help?

A return on investment of around 10% is generally considered favorable. 166%? That’s almost unheard of – but that’s exactly what a $36,500 expenditure secured for the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.

In a matter of only a couple of months, Flock cameras installed at 10 locations in Burke County enabled the recovery of about $96,000 in stolen property. And the dividends will continue to come. These License Plate Recognition cameras have also helped solve missing persons cases and locate the vehicle of a suspect in a drive-by shooting.

Those results are not shabby.

How do the cameras work? Let’s say the sheriff’s office is looking for a red Toyota Corolla with a specific license plate. Those details are put into the system. The sheriff’s office will then get an alert if that vehicle passes one of the cameras. Not only can the camera capture the license plate and make, model, and color of the vehicle, but also distinguishing features like window decals and toolboxes.

Unlike traditional surveillance systems, which often require hours of footage review, Flock cameras work in real time. They send alerts to law enforcement when vehicles associated with active investigations, Be-On-The-Lookout alerts, AMBER or SILVER Alerts, or known criminal activity pass by a camera. In a county as spread out as Burke, this kind of intelligence is not just helpful—it’s transformative.

Burke is not blazing a new trail with its use of Flock. Police departments in Gastonia, Raleigh, and Greensboro use the cameras, as do Cleveland and Lincoln counties and UNC campuses in Chapel Hill and Charlotte. Even homeowners’ associations in the state are using the cameras to monitor neighborhoods, and some of those HOAs are sharing the data with police departments.

With real-time alerts and searchable data, these cameras give deputies a powerful edge when minutes matter most.

Despite the camera’s usefulness in solving crimes, some communities are hitting pause instead of the record button.

In Hays County, Texas, immediately southwest of Austin, county commissioners on Tuesday rethought a decision they had made back in February. The elected leaders voted to table approving a contract that allowed the Hays County Sheriff’s Office to add four cameras to the five it already has. Their reluctance to move forward came on the heels of residents who questioned how the data would be used.

“In a moment where technology moves faster than policy, we need to proceed with caution,” a resident said at the meeting.

Caution sounds reasonable to us.

Our every move is increasingly being captured. Doorbell cameras, security cameras, closed-circuit television, body cameras, drones – cameras are everywhere. Technology is a tool that can enhance safety and restore peace of mind. In the wrong hands or without proper oversight, technology can be misused.

The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that about one-third of states have laws or regulations related to automatic license plate reader systems. North Carolina is one of them. State statute requires that the data be preserved for no more than 90 days, unless requested by a law enforcement agency with specific facts showing there are reasonable grounds to believe the data is relevant in an ongoing criminal or missing persons case. The law also states that the collected data is not a public record.

Burke County Sheriff Banks Hinceman assures the cameras do not collect personal information or use facial recognition, and that they are strictly used to track license plates associated with criminal investigations or public safety alerts. The sheriff’s office must ensure that these promises are upheld.

The Burke County Sheriff’s Office should publish an annual report on Flock camera usage, successes, and any complaints or reviews tied to their operation. The technology serves the public, not the other way around.

We applaud Sheriff Hinceman for bringing this system to Burke County. To date, Burke’s use of the cameras has proven to be a smart, effective addition to the law enforcement toolbox. Flock cameras can be a force for good.

But with great power comes the responsibility to use it well and thoughtfully. Let’s make sure we do both.