u/makgeolliandsoju

The FBI is now seeking nationwide, near-real-time access to license plate reader data.

Here’s the link:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/fbi-seeks-us-wide-access-to-license-plate-cameras-wants-data-in-near-real-time/

This is the whole Flock issue in plain English.

Apex was told this was local. Limited. Controlled by APD. Not shared with federal agencies. They lied and are still lying to us.

Meanwhile, the FBI is openly trying to buy access to the same kind of ALPR data at national scale. Which firms? Flock and Motorola.

So when Apex records show two unnamed federal organizations connected in March, that is not a side issue. That is the red flag.

Local cameras become regional data. Regional data becomes national access. And residents get told not to worry because it is “just license plates" and they are "catching criminals".

No. It is movement history.

Apex needs to name the federal agencies, release the sharing logs, publish the policy, and explain why APD’s public statements do not match the records.

More here: https://deflockapex.org/

Be prepared to be pissed off, folks.

Apex PD told us Flock was 10 cameras and local control. The records tell a very different story.

Well, we finally got a batch of Flock records back from Apex PD through a public records request. And the chief was clearly lying.

I've been reading through them. I need you to understand what's in here.

At the January 29 work session, the Chief looked at Council and said, quote: "We do not share with federal entities. Hard stop." He named FBI, DHS, and ICE specifically.

Here's what a March 2026 Flock sharing snapshot shows for Apex NC PD:

994 total sharing relationships
186 in-state
808 out-of-state
2 federal

994 agencies. For a town that told us this was a limited local tool with 10 cameras and 30-day retention.

And then April's snapshot? 1,070 sharing relationships. And the federal field now says "No Federal."

So two federal agencies were there in March. By April, gone. No explanation. No public disclosure. No Council vote.

I need someone to explain that to me. Because either the Chief's assurance was wrong, or the March snapshot was wrong, or someone quietly changed the settings after people started asking questions. None of those answers are okay.

That's not all.

The records show MacGregor Downs Country Club shared its private Flock cameras with Apex PD. That means a private entity owns the camera and police get searchable access to the footage. That was never part of the public conversation about "10 cameras."

There are also records showing outside agencies sharing custom hot lists with Apex-connected users, including WakeMed Campus PD. Hot lists are the watch lists that trigger alerts when a plate is scanned. Who approved those? What are the criteria? Nobody told us.

This was sold to Apex as a few cameras to help solve car break-ins. What it actually is: a searchable surveillance network connecting Apex PD to over a thousand organizations, with private cameras feeding in, outside hot lists triggering alerts, and a federal-sharing question that still doesn't have an answer.

I don't care where you fall on the politics. This is a transparency problem. Residents were given one story. The records show something different. Council needs to demand a full accounting before any renewal or expansion.

I'm building out deflockapex.org with the findings and will be posting the source documents so anyone can read them. The site has every Council member's contact info and pre-drafted emails if you want to do something about it.

No renewal. No expansion. Shut this down now.

UPDATE: All documents are uploaded to the site.

The FBI RFP is exactly why Apex should be worried about Flock

Apex PD said "no federal sharing, hard stop." The records show 1000+ agencies and 2 federal. Then the federal disappeared.