Walker Asked About Flock. County Records Reveal Mass Surveillance Facial Recognition and Phone-Location Tools
Commissioner Stephanie Walker recently asked Sheriff Ed McMahon what New Hanover County’s Flock cameras can do, whether they can track a person, how their data is shared and what safeguards govern the system.
McMahon’s written answers mostly described how his office says it uses Flock. Newly released county purchasing records raise bigger questions. They show that the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office (NHCSO) contracted for Clearview AI facial-recognition software in 2023 and has maintained Penlink phone and location-analysis tools since at least 2021.
McMahon's Answer on Condor Cameras Was Misleading, If Not an Outright Falsehood
In a published email exchange between Sheriff McMahon and New Hanover County Commissioner Stephanie Walker, Walker asked whether NHCSO operates cameras capable of continuous video or tracking a person, including Flock Condor units, or only fixed plate readers. The question:
"Does NHCSO operate any cameras capable of continuous video or tracking a person, such as Flock’s Condor units, or only fixed plate readers?"
McMahon said the office has 28 Flock license plate reader cameras and eight Flock pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras in county parks. About these eight PTZ cameras, his reply on record is, "...These cameras are different from Flock's LPR/Condor technology."
No. The purchase order itemizes the Condor cameras.
What Are the Consequences When a Sheriff Gives False Information to County Commissioners?
The County's signed Flock contract lists 17 Falcon cameras and three long-range Solar Falcon cameras under “Flock Safety LPR Products.” And on a separate line item, it lists eight “Solar Condor PTZ” cameras under video products.
(Below) The county’s Flock purchase lists eight Solar Condor PTZ cameras as video products, separate from its Falcon and Solar Falcon license-plate readers. Click here to see entire contract.
McMahon’s phrase “LPR/Condor technology” may have misdirected readers into thinking Flock sold a camera combining license-plate recognition with Condor video capabilities. Flock sold no such camera. Falcon LPR cameras and Condor video/PTZ cameras are separate products that fed data into the same Flock platform.
Walker asked about the system’s capabilities and whether NHCSO had Condor cameras. McMahon instead described how NHCSO says it uses them, answering the question he wished she had asked.
| The following question and answer are quoted from WHQR’s article. |
| Walker asked: “Does NHCSO operate any cameras capable of continuous video or tracking a person, such as Flock’s Condor units, or only fixed plate readers?” |
| McMahon answered: |
| "The Sheriff's Office currently has 28 Flock license plate reader cameras that are used for vehicle identification and investigative purposes. |
| In addition, the Sheriff's Office has eight Flock PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) cameras located in county parks. These cameras are different from Flock's LPR/Condor technology. They are not license plate reader cameras and are not being used as a system to track individuals or follow a person's movements. |
| The eight PTZ cameras provide video surveillance of specific park locations and are intended to assist with public safety and investigations involving incidents occurring at those locations. We have experienced numerous incidents in our county parks, including vehicle break-ins, vandalism, assaults, and shootings. Most recently, a homicide occurred in a New Hanover County park, underscoring the importance of having appropriate security and investigative resources available in these locations. |
| These cameras were placed in county parks to help deter criminal activity, assist deputies and investigators when incidents occur, and help maintain safe public spaces for residents and visitors. |
| The cameras are location-based security cameras. They are not being used by the Sheriff's Office as a system to identify and continuously track an individual throughout the county." |
Another Records Request Revealed the Sheriff’s Office Bought Facial-Recognition Software
WECT reported that McMahon told county leaders the county’s Flock system does not use facial recognition. That narrow answer obscured the broader question of the Sheriff’s Office’s surveillance capacity. A new DeFlockILM report notes that Flock itself does not identify faces, but county records show NHCSO separately bought facial-recognition technology from Clearview.
The county purchase order is explicit. It identifies “NHCSO Facial Recognition Software,” specifically Clearview Search Pro for 25 users. The first year cost $12,995, plus a $500 implementation fee. The purchase order incorporates County Contract #24-0236, dated September 25, 2023, and describes a three-year agreement not to exceed $39,485.
Residents could reasonably have understood McMahon’s statement that the county’s system does not use facial recognition to cover the Sheriff’s Office’s broader ability to identify people from images. It did not.
(Below) The New Hanover County Sheriff's Office Clearview purchase lists a service subscription of three years, ending this year. Click here to see entire contract.
Clearview Scrapes Faces From Public Photos for Its Private Search Engine
Founder Hoan Ton-That calls Clearview AI “a search engine for faces.” Users upload a face to search billions of images scraped from public webpages. In a 2020 CNN report, reporter Donie O’Sullivan showed that Clearview was able to find an old photo of him in seconds and a producer’s Instagram image captured before her account became private.
In early 2020, Facebook, Google and Twitter demanded Clearview stop scraping and delete collected images. Clearview refused, citing a right to index public material. Clearview now claims its database contains more than 70 billion images and continues to serve U.S. law enforcement.
(Below) In this CNN report, Donie O’Sullivan tests Clearview AI by searching his face and an Instagram photo, demonstrating how the system identifies images scraped from public websites.
Penlink Adds Phone and Location Analysis
Additional records show that NHCSO’s surveillance capability extends beyond cameras and facial recognition. A 2021 Penlink contract describes software that can analyze and map real-time telecommunications data, call-detail records, cell-tower information and individual cell-phone data. Its PenPoint mobile component displays target-location data on maps viewed on phones and tablets.
The most recent Penlink records show continued software maintenance and PenPoint subscriptions through 2026.
(Below) This Penlink promotional video demonstrates how the company’s software maps phone and location data, illustrating the analytical capability described in New Hanover County’s Penlink contract.
Internal Audits Are a Continuation of Sheriff McMahon's Failed 'You Can Trust Me' Oversight Plan
McMahon said NHCSO participates in Flock’s sharing network, including agreements with six federal agencies. He said qualifying outside searches may include New Hanover County cameras but do not provide unrestricted access to the department’s database.
McMahon also promised monthly checks that he will review himself. That is the Sheriff’s Office checking its own work, not an independent audit. It may catch misuse, but it leaves the public asking who reviews Clearview or Penlink use, where exported camera images go and what outside agencies search for. DeFlockILM’s analysis attributes about 96% of logged search activity involving NHCSO’s network to outside users.
Those contracts sharpen Walker’s concern: NHCSO can collect license plates and video, identify faces and analyze phone-location data through separate systems.
Questions McMahon Should Answer Now
The excerpts below come from Walker and McMahon’s written exchange. The new records show where his answers need to go further.
Have Flock Camera Images Been Searched Through Clearview?
Walker asked: “Does NHCSO operate any cameras capable of continuous video or tracking a person, such as Flock’s Condor units, or only fixed plate readers?”
McMahon answered: “They are not license plate reader cameras and are not being used as a system to track individuals or follow a person's movements.”
That answer addressed stated camera use, not downstream image analysis. Has NHCSO ever submitted an image from Flock, Condor, Fusus, a drone, a body camera or another source to Clearview? How many Clearview searches have users run, for what case types and with what accuracy review
What Are the Constitutional Limits Across Systems?
Walker asked: “Does policy require every search tied to a case number, not a free-text reason?”
McMahon answered: “Our policy does not currently require every search to be tied to a specific case number.”
McMahon referred to legitimate law-enforcement purposes but did not explain how NHCSO applies Fourth Amendment doctrine to aggregated vehicle locations, facial-recognition searches, phone-location analysis and cross-camera searches. Which uses require a warrant, court order, supervisory approval or documented case number?
Does Two-Factor Authentication Cover Every Surveillance Platform?
Walker asked: “Is two-factor authentication required for all personnel with system access?”
McMahon answered: “Yes. Two-factor authentication is required for personnel with access to the Flock system.”
Does the same requirement cover Clearview, Penlink, Fusus, administrators and service accounts? Is the second factor delivered by text message, an authenticator app or a hardware security key? The public also needs to know when two-factor authentication became mandatory and whether any account previously relied on a password alone.
How Is Interagency Compliance Enforced?
Walker asked: “Does policy prohibit using Flock, including outside agency searches, for immigration enforcement?”
McMahon answered: “We do not control how another independent law-enforcement agency uses its own access to the Flock network.”
NC State sharing law requires a written or electronic request for disclosure of captured plate data. The same statute generally prohibits preserving that data for more than 90 days, except under a qualifying preservation request or search warrant. How does NHCSO verify an outside agency’s stated purpose, retention and compliance, and what data can move into other systems?
Why Has Disclosure Come in Pieces?
Walker asked: “Has NHCSO’s written LPR policy been made public, or will it be in the transparency portal?”
McMahon answered: “We are also developing the transparency portal to make information about the LPR program, including its use, safeguards, auditing, and statistics, easier for the public to access.”
The public only learned about Condor equipment, Clearview and Penlink through contracts, records requests and outside reporting. Will McMahon publish a department-wide inventory of surveillance systems, enabled features, written policies, retention rules, user counts, outside access and audit methods without exposing active investigations?
McMahon Still Owes the Public a Straight Answer
Commissioner Walker gave McMahon a fair chance to answer legitimate questions. He responded to questions she did not ask and obscured the full reach of mass surveillance in New Hanover County.
How can the public trust a Sheriff who withholds the true reach of the surveillance systems under his control?
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