Matthews’ Flock Safety camera program is real, it’s ongoing, and it’s backed by a specific financial commitment but there’s still no evidence the actual scope of that commitment was ever shared with the public before it was signed.
Here are the numbers very quickly
These are two different figures, and it’s worth keeping them separate:
- $83,815.87 — what the town has actually paid Flock Safety so far, across 5 documented payments from July 2023 through October 2025.
- $118,960.00 — the total 5-year contract commitment (before tax), per the signed order form’s billing schedule. With estimated tax included, the real total is closer to $127,585.
In other words: the town is roughly two-thirds of the way through paying for a commitment it made in full back in September 2023 a commitment that continues automatically, in 24-month renewal terms, indefinitely, unless the town proactively opts out.
The original camera project traces back to 2020, a real, publicly debated $80,000 line item for LPR-equipped cameras at four intersections.
February 12, 2020 — LPR First appears on Matthews paper
A “Downtown Camera Project” ($80,000) shows up in the Matthews Town’s Capital Improvement Plan, listed under Public Safety projects.
The description: cameras “equipped with a License Plate Reader (LPR)” for real-time observation of traffic at four key downtown intersections. As mentioned in the PDF that it is to be used for the following: “Each camera will be equipped with a License Plate Reader (LPR) providing additional information and investigative tools in times of critical incidents. The video from each location will be streamed to the Police Department and accessible during and after critical or special incidents” I have attached the PDF link below its on page 36 of the pdf.
https://www.matthewsnc.gov/files/documents/BoardofCommissionersPacket02-12-20112613022720AM1315.pdf
Read that closely: this describes an incident-triggered system and the footage exists and is accessible when something happens that warrants looking, not continuous, standing search access.
May 11, 2020 — Downtown Camera Project in the proposed budget
The same $80,000 line item appears in the Town Manager’s proposed FY21 budget presentation, as part of that year’s Capital Improvement Plan, carrying the same “critical incidents” framing from the CIP packet a tool for investigating things that already happened, not a standing search network. Seen on page 24 of the below pdf
https://www.matthewsnc.gov/files/documents/FY2021ManagersBudgetPresenation1543045838051820PM.pdf
May 18, 2020 — Actual public debate
At a budget workshop, facing pandemic-era revenue shortfalls, staff proposed cutting the camera project along with several other items to close a $236,000 budget gap. Commissioners weighed in directly, on the record:
“Mayor Higdon was not in favor of delaying the police department hardening or installation of downtown cameras. Ms. Garner was also not in favor of delaying the police department work, but might be ok with delaying the cameras. Mr. McCool agreed.”
I have attached the pdf link below. This is located on page 2
https://www.matthewsnc.gov/files/documents/BoardofCommissionersMinutes05-18-20024629071720PM1315.pdf
2021 — “LPRs” Installed and used in Matthews, NC
The Matthews Police Department’s 2021 Annual Report confirms 8 fixed LPR cameras were installed and operating that year, described as one of two new investigative tools the department gained.
Here is the pdf:
https://www.matthewsnc.gov/files/documents/2021AnnualCrimeServiceReport1334044013040622PM.pdf
2020–2021, per Mayor Higdon (confirmed directly, August 2026) — Two phases, Flock from the start
I asked Mayor Higdon directly whether the 2020 cameras were the same Flock Safety system in use today. His response:
“As part of the Town’s 2020 Downtown Project, cameras with LPR functionality were first installed. The project included two phases: Phase I deployed LPR-enabled cameras at four key intersections and roadways, and Phase II expanded the system across the Town. At that time, the specific relevance of the cameras being a Flock brand, at least as that brand is recognized today, was not a factor in our decision-making process. Although I cannot recall every detail of discussions from six years ago, I honestly do not remember the brand name being a topic of consideration.”
This confirms the cameras have been Flock Safety technology since 2020. The two-phase structure was actually already on record in the Feb 12, 2020 CIP packet, which noted: “The cost of Phase I is expected to be $80,000. Phase II would build out the system to include key intersections in other areas of town. No cost estimate is presently available for Phase II. No timeline for either Phase has been identified.”
So Phase II wasn’t news but its cost and timeline were unknown as of 2020, and I don’t yet have records covering when Phase II actually happened, how many cameras it added, or whether it went through its own public discussion once its cost and timeline became known.
2020–2022 — A records gap
Everything above comes from budget documents, meeting minutes, and direct responses from officials.
What I don’t have yet is any purchase order, invoice, or contract from Matthews PD covering this period. My original records request (#26-109) only returned documents starting in mid-2023.
I’ve filed a follow-up request (#26-136) specifically for any Flock Safety records from 2020 through mid-2023, to fill this gap directly from the town’s own paperwork rather than relying on recollection alone.
July 2023 — Matthews, NC first Flock Camera invoice in my records
The earliest document in my original records request (#26-109) is a “Pole & Camera Replacement” invoice, language that only makes sense if hardware already existed to replace. This is consistent with an ongoing camera program, not a brand-new purchase.
Here is the link to the pdf:
https://townofmatthewsnc.nextrequest.com/documents/67909990
September 20, 2023 – Becky Hawke Town Manager Signed a 5 Year Contract With Flock
Then-Town Manager Becky Hawke signs a Flock Safety order form: a 60-month initial term, $118,960 before tax ($127,585 with estimated tax), auto-renewing in 24-month terms after that unless the town proactively opts out.
Mark Smith signs for Flock as General Counsel on February 27, 2024, making the agreement effective. I’ve looked for a 2023 Board of Commissioners meeting where this specific contract a 5-year term, its auto-renewal structure, its access to a state and nationwide search network was discussed publicly before signing. I haven’t found one.
I am thinking that this might be a renewal not a new decision.
Several pieces of evidence in the town’s own records point the same direction:
- Invoices that predate the master agreement. The Order Form Becky Hawke signed is dated September 20, 2023 (effective once Flock’s counsel countersigned February 27, 2024). But Flock had already invoiced Matthews for 8 Falcon cameras on June 29, 2023, and for a pole/camera replacement on July 7, 2023 — both months before the “new” 5-year agreement existed. That’s not how a first-time customer relationship starts.
Invoice to Matthews, NC for 8 cameras:
Here is the link to the pdf:
https://townofmatthewsnc.nextrequest.com/documents/67909989
- The town’s own paperwork calls it a renewal. The most recent purchase order (PO 26-00159, from 2025) has the town’s own description field reading: “DESC: FLOCK CAMERA RENEWAL.” Not “new contract.” Not “purchase.” Renewal.
See the below screenshots. I have also added the link to the pdf to the records
https://townofmatthewsnc.nextrequest.com/documents/67909988
- “Co-Term” language on invoices, describing later years as “Year 2 of 60 Month Term” and “Year 3 of 60 Month Term” standard language for restructuring an existing relationship into a new formal term, not starting one from scratch.
- The July 2023 invoice is for a “replacement,” language that only makes sense if hardware already existed.
- Mayor Higdon confirmed the cameras have been Flock-branded since 2020.
Taken together, this is well-supported by the town’s own records, not just an inference: the 2023 contract formalized and restructured an already-existing Flock relationship likely to lock in the $31,040 multi-year discount listed on the order form rather than representing a first-time decision to bring this technology to Matthews.
Even with everything above, one thing hasn’t changed: the scope of what Matthews operates today a 5-year, auto-renewing subscription with nationwide search access and private camera sharing looks very different from what a $80,000, four-intersection pilot looked like in 2020. Whether that expansion in scope ever got its own public conversation, separate from the original 2020 vote, is still the open question at the center of this.