Public Safety · Charlotte, NC
UNC Charlotte Flock Cameras Searched 183K+ Times by Houston Police in 3 Months
Records from UNC Charlotte show the Houston Police Department searched the university's Flock Automatic License Plate Recognition network more than 183,000 times between March and May 2026, far exceeding searches by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police (ranked 30th) or UNC Charlotte Police (ranked 1,491st with 229 searches). Houston officers often queried over 6,000 networks nationwide in a single search. The university said it participates in a shared network of approximately 1,600 agencies and that the technology aided a larceny arrest involving $100,000+ in stolen construction equipment, though no misuse accusations have been made at UNC Charlotte specifically. Appalachian State University and UNC Chapel Hill have since turned off national sharing of their Flock networks.