Locals shared their thoughts on third-party AI surveillance cameras and constitutional rights on the City of New Bern NC Government’s Facebook page after the city makes a statement about Flock cameras on June 2.
On Sunday night, Mayor Jeffrey Odham posted a so-called “press release” on his Facebook page that spoke about a man who proposed a new business in the city in a negative light. Someone replied to the mayor’s post on Tuesday night by saying, “…let’s address bigger issues aka Flock cameras being used in our communities and ignoring our 4th amendment rights.”
On Wednesday morning the New Bern’s public information officer wrote the city “is aware of recent comments on social media regarding the use and ownership of Flock cameras within the community” on the government’s Facebook page. The statement said they are “aware of recent comments on social media regarding the use and ownership of Flock cameras within the community…To clarify, (the city) “does not own, operate, manage, contract with, or have access to Flock cameras located within the city.” The statement also noted they are “committed to transparency” and they use other cameras “to monitor public assets, enhance public safety and protect public property. They are not equipped with license plate reader technology, facial recognition, or other recognition technology.”
It’s unclear what comments the city was referring to. As far as the mayor’s PR, an alderman shared it on social media and the city later told NewBernNow.com they did not issue a press release about a bowling alley.
Use of agentic AI ramps up in Craven County
Here’s what we know about local governments contracting with tech companies for tracking and surveillance services:
City of New Bern and Craven Community College opened a new law enforcement training center with a virtual simulator to practice real-life scenarios in March 2021, as noted here.
A month later, the New Bern Board of Aldermen agreed to accommodate the mass-scale installation of MetroNet’s internet fiber optics on the city’s Electric Utility system. The cost of make-ready work, materials, and the costs of repairing property that was damaged during the installation were mostly paid out of the Electric Fund. The Water, Sewer, and Public Works departments also bore some costs, as reported here.
In 2022, the Board of Aldermen approved a contract between Axon Enterprises and the city’s Police Department for body-worn cameras and the (cloud based) system began automatically tagging all body-worn and in-car camera footage in 2024. The board agreed to extend a 5-year contract for body-worn and fleet cameras, software, tasers and video storage totaling $1,755,789 in October 2025, as reported here.
City Manager Foster Hughes recommended that the board spend over $16.5 million on the proposed Police Department budget, which is a 4.3% increase over the current budget on May 5, 2026. A real-time crime center estimated at $62,200 is in the budget.
Alderman Dana Outlaw asked if the police were going to continue with the simulator.
Police Chief Patrick Gallagher said, “The simulator creates the 3D environment in which our officers are going to, which allows them to see New Bern areas so that they can integrate with a little bit more I guess visual stimuli.” He said they are also using several META virtual reality goggles to give them an opportunity to train in the virtual world.
Alderman Lainy White said she was curious about the real-time crime center and asked how essential it was.
He described Axon Fusus real-time crime center as an open-platform system that integrates body worn cameras, tasers, car cameras, gun-shot detectors, drones, and public/private surveillance videos, and other technologies into a “one map system.”
“We can bring the technology on board, but if we don’t have the staff to actually implement it, we’re not getting the best bang for the buck. So, to visualize what this would be is we would have staff that are actually looking at all of the cameras that we have. Currently, those cameras are in our comm(unications) system. The dispatchers do not have the bandwidth to focus on their current jobs while looking up and studying all of these surveillance videos,” he said.
Dana Outlaw said, “I would think it would be able to save other resources that drones and other type of intel can do, wouldn’t you kind of save some resources elsewhere that would give you the budget to go to that type of technology?”
Chief Gallagher said most of the discretionary funds are used for training and equipment, and so we cannot divorce our need to have subject matter expertise, training, and the skill sets needed to do the variety of jobs. The patrol officer you see in a patrol car, they’re a jack of all trades. Their training is to triage incidents in real time and then pass those on to the subject matter expertise within forensics and detectives, investigations, and all a variety of other areas.”
He said he didn’t see the savings in reducing training for a real-time crime center. He said they are an apple and an orange because if you eliminate five officers, and have all of this technology, they still need a human asset on the street to respond to the needs of our community.
He noted their overtime budget isn’t sufficient to cover the needs that they have in terms of moving our mission and often times the overtime monies come from the vacant officer positions. “So, it’s on one end, it’s a curse because I need that staff on the street but by the same token, I know that there is the ability to utilize some of those funds to go over our overtime budget,” he said.
Trey Ferguson said if a real-time crime analyst position was created, and they found an analyst, he could ask for one of those vacancies to be repackaged to this position.
The city manager said they would lose one of the police department’s vacancies. The department currently has 121.5 positions.
Patrick Gallagher said he feared in this analysis that he would remove a sworn officer that is potentially placed as a vacancy in a billet in our organization to do this job and that would take a lot more thought for him to be able to give them an answer.
NewBernNow.com followed up with Chief Gallagher later. Understanding that agentic artificial intelligence is a central part of RTCCs, we asked where the data is stored.
He said, “Axon Fusus (sometime referred to as FususOne) utilizes a cloud-based and CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Services) compliant systems. All data is protected with AES 256-bit encryption at rest, in transit, and in the cloud. Access follows strict CJIS standards, with role-based permissions, audit trails, and network restrictions.” The current plan is to house their Real Time Crime Center within our PD HQ.
He also said “We do not use (A)LPRs (automated license plate readers). Though Fusus has the ability to integrate many such technologies, I do not want anyone to believe the NBPD is actually utilizing this type of technology.”
We asked if the data was used to predict potential criminal activity. He said, “To be clear, virtually all data collection in law enforcement has some connection to crime prevention and predictive analysis. The goal of every progressive agency should be to work smarter through evidence-based and intelligence-led policing. Fusus systems support these efforts by enabling predictive analysis and crime prevention primarily through advanced data analytics, heat mapping, trend discovery, AI-driven insights, and integrations with specialized predictive tools. That said, technology is only one part of the equation. The human element remains essential. We do not rely solely on computer-generated outputs; instead, trained personnel interpret the data, apply context, and incorporate important social and community factors when drawing conclusions. Understanding what the data is truly “telling us” requires human judgment. A helpful way to view law enforcement’s use of technology is to compare it with parallel efforts in other sectors. For example, smart cities use similar integrated platforms for urban management, including traffic optimization, utilities monitoring, and emergency response. Likewise, healthcare, public and higher education, and private industry are all pursuing “work smarter” strategies through heightened data collection, real-time analytics, and predictive modeling to improve outcomes and operational efficiency.”
NBN asked, “Will the RTCC access business and/or residential security cameras to conduct security/welfare checks?”
“The onboarding of private systems (business and residential) will be solely voluntary. That said, those that opt in should understand that this will not become a real-time monitoring responsibility for the NBPD. We will not utilize the access feeds to conduct security and welfare checks,” he said.
When asked if “local, state and federal agencies, and third parties — like the airport authority, tourism authority, hospital authority, housing authority, private vendors and HOAs — have access to the ‘one map system’ data?”
Chief Gallagher replied, “From a real-time access perspective, the NBPD does not share any Fusus or Real-Time Crime Center data with outside parties. We will only share this data with other law enforcement agencies after the fact, and only when the requesting agency demonstrates a legitimate law enforcement purpose.”
“Aggregate feeds from cameras, sensors, and other sources accessed through the NBPD’s Fusus system are governed by North Carolina General Statute § 132-1.4A. Aggregated or derived data from these systems often qualifies as criminal investigative records under G.S. § 132-1.4 and is generally not available to the public while investigations remain active,” he said.
Axon’s website says, “Residents and businesses opt in to share video on their terms. Shared cameras appear on the Fusus map in real time, giving agencies fast access to nearby footage during and after incidents.”
Power supply
The city talked about the possibility of changing wholesale power supply providers, potentially take over Duke’s (Energy Progress) distribution line from Catfish Lake Road through a little bit of the (Croatan National) Forest into the Hunters Ridge and Perrytown areas, and data centers during their retreat on June 16, 2026, as reported here.
Federal government moves to rescind rule for Croatan National Forest’s Inventoried Roadless Areas
U.S. Forest Service begins to restructure agency and the USDA moved to rescind a rule on Aug. 18 that protects 44 million acres of National Forest land from “broad prohibitions on road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvesting within inventoried roadless areas,” according to the Federal Register document, as reported here.
Flock cameras
North Carolina General Assembly permanently authorized the use of AI powered automated license plate reader within rights-of-way or within land owned by the Department of Transportation.
“ALPRs do not just search for suspects of crime; they also keep records on the whereabouts of everybody. They are increasingly becoming a tool for mass location tracking and surveillance. A core civil liberties principle is that people should not be tracked, cataloged, and analyzed by either government or corporations absent individualized suspicion and oversight,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Axon and Polimorphic
Craven County Board of Commissioners approved a motion to acquire services from Polimorphic and approved a budget amendment for $10,500 on Feb. 5, 2024, according to meeting minutes. “County Manager Jack Veit stated that in response to the growing demands for public information management and the efficient tracking of citizen-reported issues related to County Services, staff has identified a pressing need for an advanced, integrated solution that allows staff and commissioners to report and track citizen requests. He indicated after thorough research and deliberation, staff are proposing the acquisition of services from Polimorphic.com, a company specializing in Government Customer Relations Management Systems and automation using Artificial Intelligence.”
County commissioners Tim Mason (District 1), Etteinne “ET” Mitchell (District 4), Shevel “Sherry” Hunt (District 5), Chadwick Howard (District 6) and Denny Bucher (District 7) approved a $381,075 contract with Axon for the existing five-year taser contract; and new body cameras which reflected “an increase of $160,000 in the five-year contract” on May 19, 2026, according to meeting minutes. They also talked about drones. Commissioner Jason Jones (District 2) said he was against the motion.
The commissioners approved a new contract with Polimophic for “cutting-edge AI and customer service solutions for citizens” and the county aims to expand its use of services in fiscal year 2027, “which will require an additional $10,000 on top of the current budgeted amount of $30,000” on June 6.
Craven County also stopped allowing comments on their Facebook page in June.
According to an article on Polimorphic’s website, “Poli on the Road: Learnings from North Carolina,” their team visited Craven, Duplin, Gaston, Pineville, Polk, Rowan counties and met with government agencies. It says there is an opportunity for “Implementing an AI voice line for inbound calls could alleviate the pressure by automatically responding to status requests or simple inquiries.” The article also talks about systems that handle “single food or Medicaid application” and there is an opportunity to introduce multilingual AI and interview bots to handle intake and triage nutrition and food benefits.
We followed up with Sheriff Chip Hughes later and asked if the reports that are generated by Agentic AI are reviewed by supervisors. He said if they had a surveillance system that was ran by his office, he “would definitely have a policy in place for submissions or footage to be reviewed by a supervisor.”
He said, “We are in the process of implementing body cams that were approved in the budget.”
He also said Craven County’s ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) has a contract with Flock.
Public Safety Training Center
Craven Community College is currently building a Public Safety Training Center that will include a 10-lane indoor shooting range, fire tower, and a two-story burn building, a burn pad, and a 400×600 concrete driver training plan (for Basic Law Enforcement Training).
Chief Gallagher said the New Bern Police Department “was part of a stakeholder’s group to help strategize the design of the facility. We are excited to participate in training at this facility once it is completed.”
Public comments
If you don’t have access to the City of New Bern NC Government Facebook page, here are some of the comments including the initials of the first and last names along with some responses that were posted on June 2.
“These are not surveillance cameras. It’s a network of cameras which can identify cars & people’s movements. These are essentially unconstitutional. You should not give away your rights for the promise of safety.” — C.B.
“One who gives up their rights for safety don’t deserve the rights or safety.” — J.L.
“You get it. It’s our job to protect our rights. A lot of people really forgot what this country was founded on. It’s very sad.” — C.B.
“Has the city explored contracting for such equipment or services to this date?” — B.H.
“As far as I am concerned, it’s a win, win for All our safety and best interests in mind. If by chance or otherwise help apprehend criminals in our community I say, ‘thank you!’ Which community is too safe that crime doesn’t exist?” – M&J. H.
“Those who would give up essential liberty, to pursue a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
“Look up the case of Porcha Woodruff. Facial recognition wrongly identified her, and police arrested her for a carjacking she did not commit. She was 8 months pregnant at the time, and the suspect in the video clearly was not. This technology is invasive and imperfect.” – J.D.
“NPR aired an excellent piece today on flock, and the Atlantic also has a well-researched article. The cases of misidentification are scary! And how some of the officers are using it to stalk people is equally terrifying.” – D.B.
“New Bern’s crime rate is not high enough to warrant flock cameras.” – C.P.
“All due respect, but we don’t want the state or a private company infringing on our rights. They aren’t our cameras” is not an answer we are willing to accept.” – C.B.
This is a nice way of trying to say New Bern is not responsible alone. That is true, but you’re not being transparent regarding what’s really happening – our 4th amendment rights are being violated. If you want information on people, get a warrant (instead of abusing a loophole)!” – N.B.
“Another rumor laid to rest…The rumor I was referring to the claim that the city of New Bern has a contract with Flock and/or owns and operates the Flock cameras in the city. The city has now specifically stated that it does none of those things and does not have access to the Flock cameras. Whether people have concerns about Flock, how privately owned cameras collect and retain data, or what policies should govern that data is a separate conversation. But that wasn’t the rumor I was referring to.” – D.M.
“People used to get bent out of shape when more and more stores installed CCTV cameras. I remember folks refusing to go in places that had signs alerting them to security cameras. Every toll road and red-light camera has license plate readers. I guess people get mad when Sun pass sends them a bill or they get a ticket for running a red light, too.” — L.G.
“I’m glad there’s on in my neighborhood.” – N.C.
“That is the equivalent of saying this is not a Kleenex because it’s not produced by the Kleenex company a tissue is a tissue it doesn’t matter what brand name is manufacturing it, a 24hr recording camera by whatever name aided at the public can be used and accessed for nefarious reasons.” — J.W.
“This is great, but why would a private business need them pointing at a public road.” – A.H.
“They are building a database to see what kind of car you drive along with your license plate thus will give them more information on your total income. They can take this information and price products that you like to buy and give you a pricing point for different items that you may or may not be interested in. It explains why Walmart is setting up digital tags throughout the whole store. Price tags can change when it knows that you approach to shop. Sounds wild but I swear I have read into it and it’s to come in the future. They want to know you and your spending habits. They can sell this information to other companies or withhold it for their own benefit. It’s anything and everything to make a dollar and to compete with Amazon.” – A.P.
“We keep finding ways to see what the criminals are doing and when they’re doing it, but our laws are so lax that it don’t help. You can make all the laws you want, but until you stand behind them and hold folks accountable, might as well throw cotton balls at them. Grow up folks.” – B.G.
What do you think?
By Wendy Card, editor. Send an email with questions or comments.