My name is Amadeus Purcell, and I am a professional photographer and business owner residing in Rockingham County, North Carolina. One evening, while sitting in my vehicle in my own driveway, I was surrounded by seven police officers. I was accused of driving approximately 100 miles per hour, threatened with arrest, and told my vehicle could be seized. Officers expressed absolute certainty that I was responsible based on information connected to a Flock Safety automated license plate reader system.

I was able to prove they were mistaken only because I had a timestamped receipt showing I was elsewhere at the relevant time. Without that evidence, this inaccurate identification could have resulted in my arrest, the seizure of my vehicle, or a dangerous escalation. This experience demonstrates what can happen when automated surveillance information is treated as conclusive evidence instead of an investigative lead requiring independent verification.

Automated license plate readers, also known as ALPRs, capture information about vehicles traveling on public roads. This information may be retained, searched, and shared among law-enforcement agencies—even when the drivers have not been accused of a crime. These systems create serious concerns about privacy, misuse, inaccurate conclusions, and the widespread tracking of innocent people’s movements.

This issue extends beyond Flock Safety and Rockingham County. Flock is only one provider of ALPR technology, and replacing it with another company would not eliminate the underlying concerns. North Carolina law currently permits and regulates the use of these systems by state and local law enforcement. The state has also authorized their placement within North Carolina Department of Transportation rights-of-way.

We therefore call upon the North Carolina General Assembly to prohibit state and local law-enforcement agencies from operating or contracting for automated license plate reader surveillance and to reverse the expansion of these systems on state-maintained roads.

While statewide action is pursued, we also call upon Reidsville and every local government and law-enforcement agency in Rockingham County to:

• Suspend the use of automated license plate readers.
• Terminate or decline to renew existing vendor contracts.
• Disable outside access to and sharing of locally collected data.
• Publicly disclose their ALPR policies, contracts, audits, searches, retention practices, and data-sharing arrangements to the fullest extent permitted by law.
• Require independent verification before ALPR information is used to stop, detain, search, arrest, or threaten any individual.

Public safety should never require the indiscriminate tracking of innocent residents. No North Carolinian should face arrest, vehicle seizure, or a potentially dangerous police encounter because unverified surveillance information was treated as proof.

Please sign this petition to demand an end to automated license plate reader surveillance across North Carolina and immediate action from local officials in Rockingham County. Together, we can protect civil liberties, demand accountability, and build a safer approach to public safety based on evidence and public trust.