By admin 
Automated license-plate reading cameras from Atlanta-based Flock Safety are expanding across the Midlands, from police departments to private neighborhoods. New research, public record fights and state budget decisions are shaping the debate over how the technology is used.
Read more Can a Rock Hill man on death row choose his doctor, meds? What SC officials say
Here are key takeaways:
- Saluda River Club, a private development between the Saluda River and Corley Mill Road in Lexington County, is upgrading its security system to include Flock license-plate readers, with the property owners association approving the addition this summer as a replacement for camera technology in place since 2008.
- Lexington County denied a request to place two license-plate readers on a pole in a public right-of-way inside the 700-home development, citing guidance from the S.C. Department of Transportation, which is not currently allowing new cameras along state roadways.
- A new University of South Carolina study by professors Ian Adams and Scott Mourtgos found cities that adopt Flock cameras see an 11% drop in motor vehicle thefts in the year after installation, based on publicly reported crime data from 216 large agencies.
- The same USC research showed agencies using Flock had a 16% increase in vehicle-theft clearances and recovered stolen cars about six hours faster than non-Flock departments, though Adams said the data is ambiguous on how much the cameras themselves drove those gains.
- Flock Safety spent $20,558 lobbying in South Carolina last year, and the company has spent at least $1 million lobbying state lawmakers in 34 states since January 2025, on top of nearly $1.4 million in federal lobbying.
- Images captured by the cameras are typically stored for 30 days, and the website HaveIBeenFlocked.com lets users check their plates against data pulled from freedom of information requests to specific agencies.
- Records obtained by anti-surveillance group Eyes Off GSP showed that in a 28-day period, more than 1 million searches were run on the Simpsonville Police Department’s cameras by 3,430 agencies across 46 states with shared access to the system.
- Funding for a “Flock drone responder” for the Irmo Police Department was left out of the final state spending plan signed by Gov. Henry McMaster, part of the roughly $40 million in Richland and Lexington County earmarks lawmakers negotiated in late August.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.
Read more One person killed near iconic South Carolina monument, cops say