Audit Log Analysis — HaveIBeenFlocked.com

What the Audit Log Reveals

APD's Council presentation cited selective statistics. The audit record tells a fuller story: at least 4,506 searches in 12 months, a reach of up to 100,075 cameras in a single query, plus APD’s own Organization Audit, produced in August 2026, which logs 2,649 Apex searches between June 1 and August 17 with a reason and a case number on every one.

DeFlock Apex · Updated August 20, 2026 · Source: HaveIBeenFlocked.com
About this data: Two records are in play. APD’s Organization Audit logs searches run by Apex operators. Its Network Audit logs searches by outside organizations whose scope reached Apex cameras. The Town produced both in August 2026, five weeks after our July 12 request. Figures drawn from HaveIBeenFlocked.com, an independent project that reassembles Flock logs released by other departments, are marked as such and are floors, because they capture only searches that reached outside cameras.
9,700
Federal searches that reached Apex cameras, Jan to Apr 2026
100,075
Most cameras reached in one search
6×
Gap between the public portal and APD’s own audit
6,896
Most networks hit in one search

What is the Flock audit log—and why does it matter?

Every time an officer runs a plate through Flock Safety's system, the platform creates a log entry. Each entry records: the date and time of the search, the officer's name, the plate searched, the reason code the officer entered (or left blank), and the number of cameras and networks the query reached.

Flock is required to maintain these logs. In North Carolina, they are public records. The data on this page was compiled from those records by HaveIBeenFlocked.com, an independent transparency project that aggregates Flock audit logs from departments across the country.

What APD brought to Council on June 9

A curated slide deck with selected case examples, summary statistics APD chose, and no raw log data. No volume figures. No reason-code breakdown. No reach analysis.

What the audit log shows

Every search in the record, unfiltered: who ran it, when, with what justification, and how far it reached into Flock's national network. This is the data that should inform a renewal vote.

Scale

At least 4,506 searches in 12 months, and the pace is rising

Bar chart of monthly Apex PD Flock searches reaching outside networks, 4,506 distinct searches from July 2025 through July 2026
APD's presentation offered curated examples and never mentioned volume. Note the last four full months: 390, 525, 605. Search activity grew while the program was supposedly under review.
Reach

Apex has 7 cameras. One search can reach 100,075.

Chart comparing Apex's 7 local cameras against the up to 100,075 cameras a single search reaches across the Flock network
When an officer runs a plate, the query goes to the entire Flock network—not just Apex. No resident consented to that scope.
Network Access

A year ago each search hit 986 networks. Now it hits 6,896.

Bar chart comparing networks reached per Apex search: 986 in July 2025 versus 6,896 in 2026, a sevenfold increase
APD discussed a sharing network of about 1,000 agencies. Each search now reaches nearly 6,900 networks, seven times as many as a year ago, most with no connection to Apex.
The data does not stay here

Apex's search history sits in 70 other departments' filing cabinets

Horizontal bar chart of the departments whose network audits contain Apex PD searches, led by Cheektowaga NY, Cobb County GA and Forest Park OH
Not one of these searches came from Apex. Every one was recovered from a records request to a department somewhere else, because an Apex search sweeps their cameras too and their system logs it. A resident who wants to know what Apex did has to ask Cheektowaga, New York.

Questions this data raises for Council

  1. 1The Town’s public transparency portal showed 144 searches for the 30 days ending August 17. APD’s own Organization Audit shows 868 for the same window. What does the portal filter, and who decided?
  2. 2Who reviews the audit log, at what frequency, and what authority do they have to flag or suspend searches?
  3. 3Of the 4,506 documented searches, how many resulted in an enforcement action, arrest, or prosecution?
  4. 4What is the false positive rate—hotlist hits that turned out to be wrong?
  5. 5Did Apex residents consent to having their data queried against as many as 100,075 cameras and 6,896 external networks?
  6. 6Can residents request records of searches that captured their plate?
Public Safety Committee review — underway

This data belongs in the committee review.

The Public Safety Committee is reviewing ALPR policy now, and the 10-camera expansion is still unsigned. Send this to your Council members and ask for answers.

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