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UNC Charlotte bars most out-of-state agencies from campus plate-reader data
UNC Charlotte now limits searches of its Flock license-plate camera network to law enforcement agencies in North Carolina and four neighboring states. The change followed records showing Houston police searched the campus network more than 183,000 times in three months.
UNC Charlotte has restricted access to data from its Flock license-plate cameras to law enforcement agencies in North Carolina and four neighboring states, ending access for agencies such as the Houston Police Department.
The university said the limits took effect in early October. Eligible agencies are in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia.
Records released by the university show Houston police searched UNC Charlotte’s camera network more than 183,000 times from March through May 2026. The next most frequent agency made about 39,000 searches during that period. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police ranked 30th, while UNC Charlotte police ranked 1,491st, with 229 searches.
The change follows reporting that highlighted how extensively agencies outside the region had queried the network. UNC Charlotte is not required to share its camera data with other law enforcement agencies.
Other North Carolina universities have also curtailed sharing. Appalachian State University turned off national sharing of its Flock network, and UNC-Chapel Hill ended data sharing with law enforcement agencies outside its own department.
The university also provided records describing a case in which it says Flock cameras helped lead to an arrest. Court records accuse a person working at a campus construction site of stealing more than $100,000 worth of copper wire after hours. The accusation has not been proven in court.