Asheville may soon join the growing list of communities, including the towns of Hillsborough and Pittsboro, that are canceling contracts with Flock.
On Tuesday, Asheville City Council will vote on a resolution that would force an early termination of the police department’s contract with the Atlanta-based company and request the removal of 11 automated license plate readers.
Still, the Asheville Police Department – and some council members – say they remain open to using a different form of automated license plate reader if the Flock contract is canceled.
The resolution comes as residents have increasingly voiced concerns over Flock’s privacy and data sharing practices. It would prohibit city employees from accessing, searching, analyzing or sharing Flock data after contract termination.
The cameras scan license plates, photograph vehicles and upload vehicle characteristics, locations and timestamps to a searchable cloud database. According to APD, 86 Flock cameras are deployed throughout Buncombe County, including the 11 operated by the Asheville police. Cameras operated by other public or private entities would not be affected by the vote.
APD has contracted with Flock since 2025. The $72,000 agreement was originally set to expire at the end of January 2027.
Flock operates a national database that police, and in some cases, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have used to track the movements of civilians. A recent investigation from 404 Media also revealed that some police officers have used the technology to stalk people.
In an Aug.14 memo to council, Interim Police Chief Jackie Stepp defended the police use of the technology, citing that it has already helped officers find leads on cases, including a jewelry store robbery, a hit and run and the July 5 Maple Crest shooting. Most recently, APD announced it had used the technology to identify suspects in a paintball assault.
Stepp also highlighted efforts to add more safeguards, including a reduction in the number of personnel authorized to conduct searches and a stricter auditing process.
But at a Thursday agenda briefing, council members said they remain concerned about Flock’s practices – with some stating they’ve seen enough problems to want to cancel the contract.
“It is really confusing. It's been a lot to learn for us,” Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer said. “But to me, there are some legitimate concerns around Flock to the degree that I think it's time that we terminate the contract and regroup and move in a different direction.”
Council member Kim Roney, a longtime critic of police surveillance technology, called the termination of the contract “an important first step,” and suggested that the council should also reconsider its recent vote to establish a real time intelligence center.
“The ACLU also has provided guidance warning against real time intelligence centers and the combination of our cameras that create other problems,” Roney said. “So we still have some work to do there.”
She added that should APD choose to replace its Flock contract with an automated license plate system from its other contractor, Axon, that “we still have a violation of our constitutional rights problem.”
With the exception of Roney, council members showed less appetite to reconsider the use of other surveillance technology. They also left the door open for swapping out the Flock cameras with another kind of automated license plate reader.
Stepp, in the Aug. 14 memo, wrote that the police department plans to use Axon automated license plate readers.
“It is something that is in the pipeline and we need to have a discussion about it, for sure,” Manheimer said.
Council member Bo Hess maintained that while Flock has “gotten some things wrong,” he remains in full support of APD’s partnership with Axon, which provides police with body cameras, dashboard cameras and drone technology.
“When we listen to folks and then they start going after Axon and our body cameras, I hope folks know that that is actually what keeps everybody safe,” Hess said. “It's what holds the public accountable and it holds officers accountable for God forbid they go rogue. How are we supposed to prosecute an officer for breaking the law if we don't have video evidence of that?”
Council members Sage Turner and Maggie Ullman also stated their support of body and dashboard cameras.
