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Are Flock Cameras on campus? WKNC's Hail Zulueta and The Nubian Message's Elliott Jackson get to the bottom of ALPR cameras across NC State and Raleigh. The full findings have been published in an article on The Nubian Message.
Included in today's news summary is the upcoming voter registration deadline on October 9th, Campus Health's weekly flu vaccine clinic across NC State campus and University Libraries and Theatre's Banned Books Onstage event on October 6th.
Eye on the Triangle is a podcast produced by WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2, student-run radio from NC State University. Like what you hear? Consider supporting it with a gift to the WKNC Enhancement Fund. Visit our podcast page to hear more and follow us on all social media platforms @WKNC881. Thanks for listening.
Included in today's news summary is the upcoming voter registration deadline on October 9th, Campus Health's weekly flu vaccine clinic across NC State campus and University Libraries and Theatre's Banned Books Onstage event on October 6th.
Eye on the Triangle is a podcast produced by WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2, student-run radio from NC State University. Like what you hear? Consider supporting it with a gift to the WKNC Enhancement Fund. Visit our podcast page to hear more and follow us on all social media platforms @WKNC881. Thanks for listening.
Creators and Guests
What is Eye on the Triangle?
"Eye on the Triangle" is your source for local news, reviews and interviews. Roughly an hour of programming, this block is essentially the NPR of WKNC. Tune in to hear about news and events around Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and the surrounding communities. To find out more about our program or learn how NC State students can join the team, email us at wknc-publicaffairs@ncsu.edu.
00:04
Autumn Smith
You are now listening to Eye on the Triangle, wknc's weekly public affairs program from the campus of north carolina State university. Any views and opinions expressed during Eye on the Triangle do not represent NC State or student media. This is WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1 Raleigh. Hello, and thank you for tuning in to Eye on the Triangle. The this is Autumn Smith with WKNC. Here is a roundup of news from NC State, followed by a segment from WKNC's Hail Zulueta and Nubian Message's Elliott Jackson about Flock cameras on campus. Here is your reminder that voter registration for North Carolinians is due on October 9, 2026 at 5 p.m. North Carolina citizens can visit the North Carolina State Board of Elections website to review their voter registration status.
00:52
Autumn Smith
Voter registration may be completed online through the DMV or by filling out a North Carolina voter registration application and submitting it by mail. NC State students, faculty and staff with disabilities are encouraged to contact the Disability Resource Office for more information on voting services. Listeners on campus can visit studentservices.ncsu.edu/voter-registration while statewide information is available at ncsbe.gov North Carolina State's campus health is offering flu vaccine clinics across campus every Monday from October 5th to November 23rd, 2026.
01:26
Autumn Smith
The clinics are available to students, faculty and staff with no appointment necessary. The beginning of fall marks flu season, as this time of year often sees an increase in sick cases. Students can take proactive steps to keep themselves and their community healthy and safe from illness by getting their flu shot on campus, according to NC State Human Resources.
01:45
Autumn Smith
The flu will often cause symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body and headaches and fatigue. The center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that sick students and staff should stay home until 24 hours after a fever without the use of medication at the time of this episode airing. The clinic is available in room 4210 of Talley Student Union. The full schedule, including the location of each flu vaccine clinic, is available at healthypack.dasa.ncsu.edu. NC State recommends vaccinefinder.org for anyone seeking a flu vaccine that is not enrolled in the University State Health Plan.
02:23
Autumn Smith
NC State University Theater and Libraries are teaming up once more to host Banned Books Onstage at Thompson Hall on Tuesday, October 6th. The annual event is a theatrical presentation of scenes and monologues from books, often banned or challenged from libraries or school systems. The event commemorates Banned Books week, held from October 4th to 10th by the American Library Association. According to the ALA website band banned Books Week promotes free and equitable access to libraries, education, and literature. In a 2025 technician feature, NC State Associate Director for Collections and Research Services David Goldsmith emphasized the importance of preserving access to controversial material in libraries. While titles are removed for being inaccessible, damaged, or superseded by newer versions, NC State libraries welcome literature and information that has often been challenged or banned in other educational institutions or contexts.
03:17
Autumn Smith
Banned Books Onstage is free and open to the public via registration. More information is available at lib.ncsu.edu/events. Now, here is Hail Zulueta and Elliott Jackson answering community concerns regarding Flock cameras in Raleigh and surveillance on NC State campus.
03:35
Hail Zulueta
I'm Hail Zulueta with WKNC.
03:37
Elliott Jackson
And I'm Elliott Jackson with the Nubian Message.
03:38
Hail Zulueta
And today, we're asking students on NC State's campus, what do you know about flock cameras?
03:44
Student #1
I personally don't like flock cameras because it feels like a form of surveillance.
03:48
Student #2
Is like they like track your personal data and they're linked with like some like big corporations.
03:56
Student #1
I think that people should be able to do what they please as they please, obviously within the like boundaries of the law.
04:01
Student #2
I just know a lot of people like taking them down.
04:04
Student #3
I do know that they give a lot more like data and make it a lot easier to track people in a really weird way.
04:10
Student #2
Other than that, I don't really. I don't really know much.
04:14
Elliott Jackson
This is not a Flock camera. Rather, it's a Genetec Autoview camera utilized by NC State Transportation Services for purposes of gate access and parking enforcement. It is one of 14 fixed cameras on campus in addition to nine vehicle mounted mobile cameras. These have been around since 2018 and again are just for parking enforcement and gate access. ALPR technology is used by law enforcement agencies like RPD, but also neighborhood associations and private organizations. Agencies argue that ALPR cameras can be used to detect vehicles involved with crimes and also to generate leads that would otherwise be hard to obtain.
04:48
Hail Zulueta
Back to Flock cameras--let's talk about what they are. Flaw cameras are ALPR cameras or automatic license plate readers. Not all ALPR cameras use AI, but Flock cameras do in order to capture vehicle information. Since our last public records request, we found that the City of Raleigh has spent around $230,000 on Flock cameras since 2024. Raleigh Police Department currently operates 29 Flock cameras, one of those being a Flex camera that is a ALPR that is mounted on top of vehicles. Yearly, these cameras cost the city around $80,000 on a time coverage basis.
05:27
Elliott Jackson
According to RPD policy, all data collected by Flock is categorized as criminal Intelligence and must be used solely for the purpose of attempting to prevent, solve or detect violations of the law. Flock cameras actively and continuously scan license plates using machine learning software to detect vehicle characteristics such as make, model, car type, color and roof racks. These are then matched with criminal hot lists. They do not identify faces or biological data. Now who has access to this database and is there any oversight?
05:56
Hail Zulueta
RPD, Flock Safety and those like the State Bureau of Investigation have access to this. Under a State level highway agreement within the RPD, officers have to submit a case number or a written reason as to why they are querying the database. RPD keeps this data for 30 days before deleting it. Now the RPD does have cameras that operate around public streets near campus, but it is unaffiliated with NC State.
06:23
Elliott Jackson
Have there been any instances of misuse within RPD?
06:26
Hail Zulueta
Early internal audits showed struggle. In August 2024, over 34% officers lacked a proper reason code. By December 2025, 27% still failed compliance. However, by August 2026, RPD successfully tightened compliance with its training, reaching 100% compliance on search explanations. RPD logs show the system assisted in clearing at least 134 cases in the last two years. Even with those clearances, however, there has been a lot of community pushback.
06:59
Elliott Jackson
Civil rights groups like the ACLU of North Carolina and Emancipate North Carolina argue that these systems disproportionately impact already over policed minority communities. There have been several instances of misuse in North Carolina, such as that of a Mooresville police officer's arrest in August for accessing the Flock database 31 times to illegally search for their boyfriend's ex wife location. Because of privacy concerns, local municipalities such Asheville, Hillsborough and Pittsboro have canceled their Flock contracts entirely, although law enforcement agencies such as RPD continue to use them, defending them on the basis of their investigative use. On social media. Those opposed to Flock have been recorded cutting them down and even vandalizing them. The debate over Flock Camera opens up questions about public privacy and safety. How effective is the technology, are the safeguards sufficient and do we need another crime investigatory tool for surveillance?
07:53
Autumn Smith
Thank you to Hail and Elliott for their collaborative investigation. The full article is available at thenubianmessage.com. This has been Eye on the Triangle from WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1 Raleigh. Our theme song is City Lights by BerryDeep licensed under Creative Commons. To re listen to this or any other episode, visit wknc.org/podcast or subscribe to Eye on the Triangle on your favorite podcast site or app. Thank you for listening.