The City of Greer has temporarily suspended its Flock Safety license plate reader system, effective last Friday, August 21, 2026. This decision follows reports of two Greer Police Department officers misusing the third-party platform. The city announced a 90-day suspension of the system, with staff access revoked and all cameras within the municipality physically covered.
City Administrator Andy Merriman stated that the hiatus will be used to conduct a data-driven analysis of Flock’s effectiveness and to evaluate privacy concerns against the technology’s benefits. Merriman emphasized the paramount importance of public trust and public safety in Greer. City Councilman Mark Hopper echoed these sentiments, citing public concern and his own research into the matter. Hopper affirmed his full support for the temporary suspension, noting that public safety should not come at the expense of transparency, public trust, and constitutional rights.
This swift action by Greer follows an earlier report that Cpl. Kareem Lynch, 28, and Officer Sebastian Echeverry, 29, were terminated in late June and stripped of their law enforcement certifications for abusing Flock to track private citizens, including former romantic partners. The public and some city government members were not informed of these terminations until after the misconduct was reported, which subsequently led to similar disclosures of Flock abuse in other law enforcement agencies across South Carolina.
The growing skepticism surrounding Flock’s expanding presence has also been linked to an increase in vandalism against the cameras. In a related development, Oconee County recently advanced a measure, the Protection from Mass Surveillance Ordinance, to defund the Flock Safety camera system, with County Council Chairman Matthew Durham framing it as a constitutional issue. However, the South Carolina Sheriffs’ Association maintains that all 46 of the state’s sheriffs support such technology, arguing that isolated misconduct should not be mistaken as evidence of improper technology. Flock Safety has responded by announcing modest changes, such as reducing default data retention from 30 days to seven, though this safeguard can still be overridden.
