Aug. 25, 2026
Jonathan Rich
BrevardBeagle.com
The controversial issue of public surveillance cameras was not actually on the agenda for Monday night’s meeting of the Transylvania County Board of Commissioners, but after several citizens discussed their displeasure regarding the Sheriff’s Office practice of using Flock license plate readers to monitor local and out-of-town license plates, members of that board publicly addressed the topic at the end of their three-hour meeting.
In August 2024, the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office installed a total of eight automated license plate readers on private property at locations near the county’s borders to better monitor vehicles in transit.
These high-speed computer-controlled cameras automatically capture all license plates that come into view along with the location, date and time of transit via a digital photograph of the vehicle.
There are now a total of 14 Flock brand cameras in use across Transylvania County which the Sheriff’s Office uses to compare data with information from regional and national databases to determine whether a vehicle was involved with criminal or suspicious activity and track that vehicle in real time.
Both the American Civil Liberties Union and the digital-rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation have expressed concerns about the privacy implications of a mass surveillance system capturing data on millions of vehicles not suspected of any crimes and there are documented instances across the country of law enforcement manipulating the information without proper authorization for uses outside of official use.
Monday night in response to concerns, emails, calls and public comments by citizens regarding Flock cameras, Transylvania County Commissioner Larry Chapman weighed in on the issue.
“We always hear the horror stories about Flock cameras, what they do. We never hear the good stories,” Chapman began before sharing a narrative about two abducted teens rescued through the use of this technology and asking for Sheriff Owenby to update the Board on how it is used locally. “There’s good things about those … we just need to understand the limitations of them. When they can be used, what the information is and I think the only one who can provide that as far as our county use is to come from the Sheriff and how he’s using it from there.”
Commissioner Chase McKelvely agreed with Chapman and then let loose with his thoughts on the topic.
“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know how they got here. That discussion has never entered this forum,” McKelvey said. “I’ve had conversations with people’s concerns and I know that as I sit and listen there’s not one person that I can sit and disagree with in regards to Flock cameras. Because when I look at the mirror and I think about who I am, what I stand for and what I believe, it’s hard to disagree with what they are saying in regards to the liberties and what this nation is found upon.”
“One thing that a lot of people don’t want to discuss is the Patriot Act and that’s a violation of our freedoms, that the government can listen in on our phone calls,” he continued. “We all joke around about it and talk about Big Brother listening in, whether its Alexa, whether it’s Facebook on our phones … if we have a conversation, then just a few minutes later now it’s pulling up our newsfeeds and everywhere else. They say it’s about a license plate reader today, but the thing that I caution you about is what will it be tomorrow?”
“I’ll tell you this,” McKelvey, whose first elected term on the board expires at the end of the year, concluded, “if it comes before me, I will vote ‘no’ all day long and protect our freedoms and our liberties because that’s what I believe. I’ve heard the people talk in public comment tonight because I believe in being the voice and hearing the people.”
When reached for comment on the issue Tuesday, Sheriff Owenby reiterated his position that his officers only use the Flock camera technology for approved law enforcement means and that it is a proven method of arresting fugitives, retrieving stolen property and finding missing persons.
“It is an effective tool law enforcement uses that significantly cuts down on investigation times and I make sure that my officers use it properly and only with justified cause,” Owenby said. “The cameras have been approved in my budget for several years. While I do understand some citizens’ concerns, the cameras only capture the license plate numbers and that use has resulted in many arrests and convictions for illegal activity.”