North Carolina Police Officer Arrested For Alleged Illegal Use Of Flock Cameras

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,

A North Carolina officer was arrested by state authorities July 29 after allegedly accessing license plate registration information from Flock Safety cameras and other technology, authorities announced.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Seth Elliot, 25, is facing a misdemeanor charge of illegally accessing a government computer, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

Elliot, who started working at the department in 2024, allegedly accessed the Flock system and CJ Leads, a criminal justice database used by law enforcement in North Carolina, one time for non-law enforcement purposes, according to the police department.

The officer was placed on unpaid leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said.

A previous unrelated investigation had initially found the evidence that on June 16, Elliot had allegedly improperly accessed the license plate reader systems.

He was then placed on administrative assignment on June 22, and his equipment and access to systems with criminal intelligence information was revoked pending the outcome of the internal investigation.

Police Chief Estella Patterson said the department doesn’t operate any of the Flock cameras or devices but has an agreement with the company to allow officers access to them.

Misuse of the access is not tolerated, Patterson said.

“The public expects and deserves the highest level of integrity from every officer who wears the CMPD badge,” Patterson said in a statement. “Misusing law enforcement technology or accessing confidential information for non-law enforcement purposes is a betrayal of the public’s trust and a violation of everything this profession stands for.”

The Epoch Times was not able to reach Elliott for comment, and it’s unclear if he has an attorney.

The North Carolina case is the latest law enforcement-related allegation of Flock camera misuse.

Earlier this month, Sgt. Kabiru Salawu of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office was arrested after an internal investigation found he allegedly misused the agency’s Flock system. Salawu was fired by the department and charged with a felony violation of oath of office and misdemeanor misuse of license plate data, according to a sheriff’s office statement.

Investigations in Georgia and several other states have also led to arrests over Flock camera access.

People have also destroyed the cameras in some cities, with some incidents occurring this week.

In Upstate New York, police arrested a 25-year-old man July 29 after he allegedly used a saw to cut down a Flock camera.

In Central California, a 40-year-old Pismo Beach man was arrested July 28 for allegedly intentionally tearing down and running over at least three Flock license plate readers, causing thousands of dollars in damage, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Flock Safety, based in Georgia, estimates more than 6,000 communities in 49 states have partnered with the company to install the surveillance systems.

The cameras are powered by artificial intelligence and capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, recording the location, date, and time. The cameras also capture the car’s make, model, color, and other features, such as dents and bumper stickers, to use as data points, according to DeFlock, a community-driven, open-source project that maps the license plate readers.

DeFlock estimates Flock has installed nearly 123,400 cameras throughout the United States.