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Highlands board reviews Flock license-plate readers, directs staff to map Main Street camera plan
Summary
At a Oct. 16 workshop, Highlands officials heard law-enforcement presentations on automated license-plate readers (ALPRs) and a town IT briefing on Main Street surveillance options, discussed privacy limits under North Carolina statute and asked staff to return with a detailed placement and cost plan.
The Highlands Town Board on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, heard presentations from Macon County and Highlands law enforcement about automated license-plate readers (ALPRs) operated by vendor Flock and directed town staff to return with a detailed plan for cameras on Main Street.
The board convened the workshop to focus on a proposed security-camera program after the town manager removed a closed session item on pending litigation. Macon County investigator Lee Trit and Captain Liam McCall of the Highlands Police Department described how ALPRs have been used in the region to locate missing people, track suspects across jurisdictions and assist investigations. Matt Schuler, the town GIS/IT director, outlined practical considerations for placing cameras along Main Street and in the business district.
“Those cameras have totally changed how law enforcement can do business,” Lee Trit said, citing uses from locating missing seniors to tracking suspects across state lines. Trit said North Carolina’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is running a one-year pilot that allows some agencies to place ALPRs on Department of…
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