Is Onslow County ending its stationary plate reader cameras?
Yes, according to Sheriff Chris Thomas. WCTI reported that the sheriff's office will not renew its contract for stationary license plate reader cameras and plans to replace them with readers mounted in patrol vehicles.
Thomas announced the decision during public comment at a Board of Commissioners meeting. WCTI doesn't say which date that meeting was held.
Why is the sheriff dropping the stationary cameras?
Thomas said the issue is call volume. His patrol staff is small, and the cameras can generate 50 or more calls per shift, which sends deputies across the county. He also said stationary cameras don't show where a vehicle travels after an alert.
The key facts from the report:
- The sheriff's office will remove its 12 stationary cameras.
- The contract with PlateRanger ends in November.
- The replacement is license plate readers in patrol vehicles.
What changes for drivers?
Based on the sheriff's announcement, the fixed cameras under Onslow County's PlateRanger contract are going away. Cameras run by neighboring towns, the state, businesses or HOAs are not part of this decision and stay where they are.
The patrol-vehicle readers are planned, not in place. The report doesn't say when they start.
The system described in the report uses cameras on public roads to capture plate numbers, plus make, model, color and direction of travel, and compares those plates against investigations. Removing fixed cameras doesn't mean your plate stops being read by other devices in the area.
What's still unknown?
WCTI doesn't give the cost of the patrol-car readers, the vendor for them, or a start date. The report also doesn't say what happens to data the fixed cameras already collected, or whether the county will keep any fixed cameras.
What can residents ask?
A few questions worth putting to the sheriff's office:
- On what date will each of the 12 cameras come down?
- What happens to the plate data those cameras stored?
- When will the patrol-car readers go live, and what rules will govern them?
Check the agencies page for published transparency records on local departments. You can also see where cameras are mapped in the area on the camera map, and read how plate readers work before you go to a meeting.
The next date in the report is November, when the PlateRanger contract ends.