How This Ends

1. The contract can end at any time — today, if they chose to

New Hanover County’s Flock agreement is Contract #25-0364, held by the Sheriff’s Office. Its own terms let the county terminate at any time, without cause. There is no long lock-in and no penalty clause standing in the way. The cameras stay up for exactly one reason: no one with the authority to cancel has decided to. That’s not a wall. That’s a choice — and choices can change. (See the contract terms.)

2. Who actually decides — and your two points of leverage

Two offices matter, and residents can press both:

• The Sheriff signed the contract and operates the system. The Sheriff can cancel it directly.
• The five County Commissioners approve the county budget that funds it. They don’t run the cameras, but they control the money and the public forum — and they answer to voters. They can question the contract publicly, ask for it on a meeting agenda, and decline to fund its renewal.

That’s why our effort targets both: a direct ask to the Sheriff, and sustained public pressure on the commissioners who hold the purse and the microphone. (Email the commissioners.)

3. The realistic path, step by step

Here is how removal actually happens — not a fantasy, a sequence other towns have already followed:

• Step one — the record. Residents sign the petition and email their leaders, so there is undeniable, documented local opposition. (We’re at 1,692 signatures and climbing.)
• Step two — the room. Residents speak at the County Commission’s public-comment period — Monday, August 17 at 4:00 PM, and again Monday, September 21. Five speakers is a comment period; twenty-five is a moment the board can’t ignore. (How to show up and speak.)
• Step three — the agenda. Pressure moves one or two commissioners to publicly question the contract and ask that it be put on an agenda for discussion — the step that turns comment into a decision.
• Step four — the decision. The Sheriff cancels under the at-any-time clause, or the board declines to fund the next renewal. Either one ends it.

Here’s the honest part: cancellation is not on any agenda yet. Our entire job between now and then is to put it there.

4. The clock: what’s happening right now

Two things make this the moment to act. First, North Carolina’s statewide license-plate-reader bill, House Bill 206, was ratified July 1 and sent to the Governor on July 2 — the surveillance framework is expanding at the state level, which makes local control matter more, not less. Even under a statewide law, the county still decides whether to deploy and fund these cameras here. (The NC law explained.) Second, the county’s own records show the network was already searched nearly three million times in about 16 months, names redacted — the harm isn’t hypothetical, it’s happening now. (The records.)

5. What has to be true for us to win

Removal doesn’t take a miracle. It takes three things, all achievable: enough residents on the record that opposition is undeniable; enough speakers in the room that commissioners feel it; and one or two elected officials willing to champion it publicly. Every signature, every email, and every three-minute comment moves those three numbers. That’s the whole game — and it’s winnable.

Do these three things today

• Sign the petition — add your name to the record.
• Email your commissioners — ask them to put the Flock contract on an agenda.
• Put August 17 on your calendar — and bring one neighbor.