On October 10, the Horry County Council’s public‑safety committee will hold a public hearing on the county’s use of automated license‑plate readers (ALPRs). The meeting marks one of the few moments in South Carolina where elected officials will openly debate whether the technology should continue to collect and share vehicle data.
How the system works
ALPRs automatically photograph every vehicle that passes a camera, stamping each image with time and location. Horry County Police began installing Flock Safety cameras in 2022, starting with 23 units at major entry and exit points. Myrtle Beach operates roughly 1,200 city‑owned security cameras monitored by a real‑time crime unit, and the state now has more than 1,790 ALPRs, ranking South Carolina 21st nationally in deployment density.
Law‑enforcement successes
Local police point to concrete results. Surfside Beach Police Chief Bill Mickle says the cameras capture only what is already visible from public roads and help locate missing persons and dangerous offenders. Horry County officers credit plate readers with locating a six‑year‑old nonverbal child taken by a non‑custodial parent.
Concerns over oversight
Critics note that guardrails have not kept pace with hardware. This summer, five Greenville County officers were fired for misusing the technology, including a Mauldin officer who tracked a former partner 166 times. Greer suspended its cameras for 90 days after two officers were terminated, and Oconee County Council voted 4‑1 to ban the devices outright. In York County, a lawsuit alleges deputies confronted a man at gunpoint over a mistaken stolen‑vehicle alert.
Flock Safety responded in August by tightening defaults: data retention was cut from 30 days to seven, case numbers are now required on searches, audits are mandated, and agencies receive more control over outside access. Until that change, retention policies were left to each vendor and department.
Statewide policy vacuum
South Carolina currently has no law governing how ALPR data is used, how long it may be retained, or which agencies may access it. A FOX Carolina investigation confirmed the absence of statutory limits, while nearly 20 other states have enacted caps. Georgia limits retention to 30 months and North Carolina to 90 days.
Four bills addressing ALPRs have been filed for the 2026 legislative session. Senate Bill 447 cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in April, but House Bill 4675 – the most restrictive proposal, requiring warrants and quarterly independent audits – has seen no committee action since its January referral.
Statewide database and federal sharing
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has operated a centralized plate‑reader database for more than a decade. The database held over 400 million images as of mid‑2022, retained for three years, and is searchable by roughly 100 local, state and federal agencies.
In April 2026, the South Carolina Election Commission voted 4‑1 to send the state’s voter‑registration file – including partial Social Security numbers and driver’s‑license information – to the U.S. Department of Justice. Commissioner Joanne Day dissented, citing constitutional concerns. The state negotiated concessions such as hashing of sensitive fields and the ability to remove data, but the agreement still depends on federal compliance, which is being challenged in a class‑action lawsuit filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the League of Women Voters.
What residents can expect
Council Chairman Johnny Gardner told resident Charles Hooks that the council takes search‑and‑seizure protections seriously and referred the issue to the committee for further study. Hooks asked for transparency about what is collected and how long it is kept – a request that highlights the broader community desire for clear policies.
As the public‑safety committee prepares to hear testimony, Horry County residents will have an opportunity to weigh the safety benefits of ALPRs against the need for stronger privacy safeguards at the county, state and federal levels.
Original reporting: MyrtleBeachSC News — read the source article.
