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Henderson approves $13,000 transfer to buy facial-recognition licenses for police
Summary
The City Council authorized a $13,000 transfer of NC State Asset Forfeiture funds to purchase three three-year facial-recognition software licenses for the police department, following a staff presentation describing trial results and database-matching workflows.
The Henderson City Council approved Ordinance 24-06 on March 11 to transfer $13,000 from the NC State Asset Forfeiture Treasury Fund to the contracted services account to purchase facial-recognition software for police use.
Police Chief Marcus Barrow reported that a detective trialed a version of the software and cited a recent convenience-store theft case where an image match led to progress in an investigation. Chief Barrow described how the software compares images against databases and social-media sources to generate matches; he also confirmed the purchase would cover three three-year licenses.
Councilmember Garry D. Daeke asked whether licenses would apply to different individuals; Chief Barrow confirmed the department planned three licenses. Councilmember Sam Seifert requested an explanation of how the software works, and Chief Barrow provided the operational overview. The council approved the transfer by unanimous vote.
The ordinance uses state forfeiture funds allocated for law-enforcement uses; the transcript does not record any specific policy limitations or privacy safeguards tied to this purchase. No public comment about the software purchase was recorded during the meeting. The council recorded the ordinance in Ordinance Book 10.
