This is the spine of the record. Each entry links its sources. Where accounts conflict, we say so.
2022 to 2023: the county’s network
June 2022: Citizen Times reports the Buncombe sheriff runs about 2,000 Fusus cameras. The Citizen Times reports that Sheriff Quentin Miller’s office is running roughly 2,000 cameras on the Fusus platform (about 1,500 inside county schools, another 500 across housing communities and businesses) feeding a real-time intelligence center most residents had never heard of. The Sheriff proposes expanding downtown along the courthouse corridor and Patton Avenue, with businesses paying $60 per camera per year to join. (Citizen Times via Yahoo)
January 24, 2023: Asheville council votes 4 to 1 to join the county’s Fusus camera network. City Council approves an interlocal agreement giving APD access to the county’s Fusus center (roughly 1,800 cameras at the time) for $30,000 a year, plus city cameras at City Hall, Pritchard Park, and North Lexington. Kim Roney casts the only no vote. (WLOS, Mountain Xpress)
March 22, 2023: Buncombe sheriff’s plate-reader policy takes effect. Policy 402 allows sharing with any “criminal justice agency” for “active criminal intelligence operations,” puts “gang and terrorist watch lists” and “authorized Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office intelligence projects” on the hot list, and assigns the annual audit to the Fusus coordinator “along with sworn members of the FUSUS Advisory Committee.” The policy sets no limit on federal sharing and requires no public report. (BCSO Policy 402)
April 2023: Buncombe sheriff’s plan uses Fusus cameras to monitor downtown Asheville. A sheriff’s plan obtained by Asheville Watchdog has deputies using the Fusus network to “monitor downtown business district” and “advise assigned personnel of any suspicious or criminal activity observed during monitoring”; the idea came from commission Chair Brownie Newman, who had questioned the program ten months earlier. (Asheville Watchdog)
September 2023: Buncombe sheriff signs a $2.4 million Axon body and dash camera contract. Five years of body cameras and dash cameras that stream live into Fusus; “whenever our deputies are in the vicinity of APD officers, the system makes all the cameras come on,” per Sheriff Miller. The same report counts fewer than 15 private downtown businesses on the network sold to commissioners as a revenue opportunity. (Citizen Times via Yahoo) Buncombe County
2024 to 2025: the buildout
2024: Congressman signs the federal earmark request for Asheville’s intelligence center. In April 2024, APD and the office of U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC-11) connect over a federal earmark for a Real-Time Intelligence Center; accounts differ on who initiated the contact (his page documents both versions). Edwards signs the formal request letter on May 22, 2024; his entire written justification is one sentence. Council is not informed. The sequence became public through the work of Communities Against Mass Surveillance.
2024 to 2025: Asheville police put Axon in-car plate readers, then Flock cameras, into use. Chief Stepp’s August 14, 2026 memo to council dates it this way: Axon in-car plate readers on marked patrol cars “since April 2024,” and “in February 2025, APD added the Flock ALPR system” (memo); BPR likewise reports APD “has contracted with Flock since 2025” (BPR, Aug 21, 2026). Earlier coverage, and this site until August 23, put the 11 Flock cameras at April 2024. The Flock contract the city posted in August 2026 (City of Asheville Contract 92500339, through the reseller Insight Public Sector) runs from Feb 1, 2025 to Jan 31, 2027. Between 2024 and December 2025 the readers scan roughly 3.1 million plates, in a city of about 95,000 people, with data shared with agencies across a 500-mile, multi-state radius. APD also runs Axon in-car plate readers and roughly two dozen drones. (Asheville Watchdog, Annie Dance / Cops & Congress)
March 7, 2025: Asheville police brief the city council on plate readers for the first time. Deputy Chief Jackie Stepp briefs council on the LPR program for the first time, stating that mobile readers had run for nearly a year, stationary readers “approximately two years,” cross-jurisdiction sharing was live, and APD had access to “over 177,000 cameras across the Eastern US” through Flock and Axon partnerships, “and we’ve had that access.” Roney requested the briefing after reading about the cameras online; the committee that would normally review the program was not meeting. Full write-up with timestamps: 2025-03-07 Agenda Briefing.
March 25, 2025: Asheville council approves the first intelligence center grant, $71,999, 6 to 1. A $71,999 federal grant for RTIC equipment (video wall, workstations) is placed on the consent agenda, the part of the meeting reserved for routine, undebated items. Roney pulls it for discussion and submits 29 written questions to APD about data access, control, and constitutional implications. The questions go unanswered. It passes 6 to 1, along with six other police funding items. Council member Sheneika Smith says on the record “I kind of feel robbed of having those conversations,” and suggests a community forum; it is never held. Bo Hess speaks for the item: “we’re not buying surveillance, we’re buying chairs”, and says the center “already exists.” Full write-up: 2025-03-25 City Council. (BPR, CAMS)
April 9, 2025: Buncombe sheriff approves a written policy for the intelligence center. Sheriff Miller approves Policy 217: “proactive monitoring,” cameras near public events “to look for suspicious activity leading up to and during the event,” rapid-deployment cameras, and a sharing clause APD would later copy verbatim into its own Policy 1703. (BCSO Policy 217)
February 2026: The $1.14 million federal earmark for Asheville’s intelligence center arrives. The Community Project Funding earmark secured by Rep. Chuck Edwards comes through: $1.14 million, administered by the Department of Justice. The DOJ’s conditions are published only after acceptance. (CAMS)
April to May 2026: the vote
April 11, 2026: Asheville residents’ group holds a public teach-in on the intelligence center. Three days before the council vote, SASSI (Southerners Against Surveillance Systems & Infrastructure) holds “You Are Being Watched: An Introduction to Police Surveillance in Buncombe County” at Firestorm Books. (SASSI)
April 14, 2026: Asheville council pulls the intelligence center item from the consent agenda. More than 40 residents arrive to speak against accepting the $1.14M. The item is pulled from the agenda right before the meeting. A resident, speaking at public comment: “Let’s call it what it actually is: a centralized hub for spying on the people of Asheville.” Mayor Manheimer says the issue “warrants a full conversation.” (BPR)
April 27, 2026: Asheville Watchdog column criticizes the city’s handling of the intelligence center. Asheville Watchdog’s John Boyle publishes an opinion piece criticizing the city for burying the initiative on consent agendas and demanding transparency. The cost breakdown he reports: ~$400K video wall, $467K in software over 7–8 years, $250K operational. (Asheville Watchdog)
April 28, 2026: Axon and Flock present to an Asheville council work session. The Policy, Finance and Infrastructure Committee hears presentations from Axon and Flock sales representatives alongside Interim Chief Jackie Stepp. No public comment is allowed. CAMS members publish a fact-check one-pager responding to vendor claims. (CAMS)
May 11, 2026: Asheville group urges council to reject the intelligence center and Axon contract. The Government Accountability Project of Asheville publishes its position: reject the RTIC/Axon expansion until real oversight exists: no civilian oversight body, no facial recognition ban, vendor lock-in, and no final negotiated contract available for council to review. (GAP)
May 12, 2026: Asheville council approves the intelligence center grant and Axon contract, 6 to 1. The RTIC items are placed at the end of a budget meeting. Public comment is capped at one hour; 21 residents who had signed up do not get to speak. Of the 23 who speak, 22 oppose. The council approves the $1.14M grant and a 7.5-year contract with Axon (body cameras, tasers, drones, interview-room tech, and Fusus software) without the final contract text available for review. Roney, the only no, presents ACLU and EFF concerns. Residents chant “Shame!” as it passes. Council member Bo Hess attaches a resolution stating the tech will be used “solely for lawful purposes.” (BPR, 828NewsNow, Enlace Latino NC, People’s World)
Verified from the city's own video
Press coverage disagreed on the vote count (4 to 1, 5 to 1, and 6 to 1 all appeared). The city’s own recording settles it: the chair states on video, “the vote was 6 to 1 in favor of item B1,” and B2 followed 6 to 1 as well. The B1 vote was taken off-microphone amid shouting, seconds after public comment closed; a council member had to announce “in case you didn’t notice, there was just a vote.” Full minute-by-minute reconstruction with video timestamps: 2026-05-12 City Council.
May 13, 2026: Buncombe County releases 28 months of the sheriff’s Fusus camera access log. One day after an anonymous public records request, Buncombe County produces 28 months of the Sheriff’s Office’s Fusus access log, 337,838 entries, and withholds eight columns including every timestamp under G.S. 132-1.4 (MuckRock). The released columns show 58 percent of camera viewing on public housing and 95 to 99 percent of it live. Analyzed August 2026: Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Fusus access log, 2024 to 2026.
May 25, 2026: Asheville residents’ group holds a surveillance-awareness event. CAMS throws a surveillance-awareness social at DayTrip: DJ sets and a Q&A with Benn Jordan (the researcher whose Flock investigations reached national press) plus Kim Roney and Patrick Conant. (Sunshine Labs)
May 28, 2026: Asheville mayoral candidates split on surveillance at the first debate. At the first Roney–Manheimer debate, surveillance is one of the main disagreements. Roney raises “a billionaire-owned, AI-fueled, for-profit tech company… working with ICE” surveilling without warrants; Manheimer frames the grant as cost savings. (BPR)
June 2026 onward
June 4, 2026: Asheville police open public tours of the intelligence center. APD opens bi-weekly public tours of the RTIC space, framed as transparency “following public debates over privacy.” Every other Thursday, 2–4 PM; register at 828-259-5881. (WLOS)
June 11 – July 23, 2026: Asheville police convene an unannounced workgroup to write the intelligence center policy. Interim Chief Stepp convenes a four-session “RTIC Stakeholder Policy Workgroup” (APD staff, Sheriff Miller, and invited community members; none of the groups that opposed the RTIC were invited) to shape Policy 1703, the center’s governing policy. The sessions were not announced; the meeting notes surface only through an August records request. What they show, including the stated goal of a “regional RTIC,” a coming city-county MOU, and the messaging strategy (“community partnership rather than a surveillance initiative”): The RTIC Policy.
July 7, 2026: NC budget makes the state’s highway plate-reader program permanent. The NC budget makes the SBI’s highway license plate reader program permanent, authorizing ALPRs on state-maintained roads. The SBI’s stated goal: a camera at every entrance and exit to the state. (WRAL, Daily Tar Heel)
July 8, 2026: WLOS reports Asheville’s intelligence center plans camera and drone links. A WLOS investigation details the RTIC’s planned integrations (Flock ALPRs, body and car cameras, drones, voluntary private cameras in Fusus’s “one pane of glass”) and APD’s internal controls: quarterly audits, keycard reviews, and search-term blocks. APD tech manager James Wingo: blocks cover “anything to do with immigration, anything to do with reproductive issues.” The controls are administered by APD itself. Operational target: spring/summer 2027. (WLOS)
July 14, 2026: Macon commissioners vote 5 to 0 to end the county’s Flock contract. County commissioners vote 5 to 0 to end their $47,000 Flock contract; 12 cameras come down. The push came largely from Republican residents and officials. See Western North Carolina and the state. (Smoky Mountain News)
July 16, 2026: Asheville sends the Axon contract to Axon for signature. City emails released Aug 20 show the contract sent to Axon nine weeks after the vote, a second contract for 20 Axon Fleet in-car plate readers in “final signature stage,” and the city attorney’s office asking Axon, by email, to opt the city out of its default data program. (The RTIC Policy)
July 29 & August 5, 2026: Two NC police officers charged over misuse of Flock searches. A Charlotte officer becomes the first in NC criminally charged for an unauthorized Flock search; a week later a Mooresville officer is arrested for using Flock to stalk his ex-wife: 31 searches. (WNC/state coverage via NCLocal)
August 4, 2026: Asheville city manager signs the $7.4 million Axon contract. City of Asheville Contract 92700065, dated Aug 1: $7,423,161.15 through Dec 31, 2033, of which $6,955,559 is city money and $467,602.15 the grant-funded Fusus subscription. Interim Chief Stepp signed July 27. (The contract, as signed · the grant and the contract)
August 7, 2026: Asheville Flock camera near Carrier Park is found vandalized. A Flock camera near Carrier Park is found vandalized. (WLOS)
August 14, 2026: Asheville interim chief tells council Axon plate readers are planned by February 2027. Jackie Stepp writes council that APD “is not pursuing a full transition away from Flock” but is “exploring transitioning… to a Flock software license that would preserve access to the Flock network,” while “expanding and integrating Axon’s automated license plate reader capabilities,” with “the Axon ALPR infrastructure operational” by February 2027. The memo counts 86 Flock cameras in Buncombe County, 11 of them the city’s, says the sheriff “currently uses Flock ALPR cameras,” and describes evaluating “consolidating the BCSO RTIC into the APD RTIC.” It becomes public as an agenda attachment a week later. The same week the city launches its Technology and Public Safety page with the signed contract; the page’s plate-reader answers describe the Flock program (the city’s page, annotated). (memo · scored against the eight demands)
August 16–22, 2026: Asheville groups join the national Week of Action against plate readers. Asheville joins the DeFlock National Week of Action Against ALPRs: a West Asheville kickoff potluck, an online panel, and a Friday celebration at Cooperative Coffee. (CAMS, DeFlock)
August 19, 2026: Asheville mayor calls for a vote to end the Flock contract. Mid-Week of Action, two days after Sage Turner documented that the city’s Flock cameras were still up despite her vote’s conditions, Mayor Manheimer issues a statement calling for a vote at the August 25 council meeting to authorize city manager D.K. Wesley to terminate the Flock contract: “I have heard clearly from Asheville residents, and I’m calling on Asheville to turn off the Flock cameras and remove them, which requires terminating the Flock contract.” She says a moratorium wouldn’t be enough because “our contract does not allow for the removal of the technology unless we terminate the contract,” and asks for a transparent policy on handling and deleting the data already collected. The statement says nothing about APD’s Flock search accounts, the county’s cameras, or the Axon contract; see Getting Flock Out for what a full exit requires, and note it stays a statement until council votes. That same morning, hours before the announcement, APD had publicized using Flock cameras to identify suspects in a West Asheville paintball assault case. (WLOS · 828newsnow · WLOS, paintball)
August 20, 2026: Asheville mayor presents the Flock termination resolution at the agenda briefing. At the agenda briefing for the Aug 25 meeting, Manheimer presents the actual resolution and discloses two facts: Flock changed its policy to require 10 cameras minimum for system access, which ends the “keep one camera” plan, and removal requires termination because “the cameras are technically not ours. They’re Flock’s.” A staff memo read aloud by Roney says the city is “expanding and integrating Axon’s automated license plate reader capabilities” while Flock winds down, and the mayor confirms Axon stationary readers are “in the pipeline.” Full write-up: 2026-08-20 Agenda Briefing.
August 20, 2026: Records requests release four drafts of Asheville’s intelligence center policy. Seven records land via two public records requests shared by Sunshine Labs’ Patrick Conant: four drafts of Policy 1703 (facial recognition ban included, but only from the third draft on; a remote-access ban and per-shift hotlist review deleted along the way), the private policy workgroup’s meeting notes, and Axon emails showing the contract went for signature July 16, a never-announced second contract for 20 in-car plate readers, and the city’s opt-out from Axon’s default data program. The full analysis: The RTIC Policy.
August 21, 2026: Asheville posts the Flock termination resolution for a full council vote. The Flock resolution is New Business item VI.A for August 25, not consent. Its seven sections direct the manager to terminate and “immediately request that Flock remove their hardware,” bar city employees from searching the city’s Flock data, keep existing data “in accordance with applicable law,” bar linking it to facial recognition, order a ten-item policy review with “an independent civil-liberties policy reviewer,” and freeze new Flock agreements during the review. Axon is not mentioned. (resolution · agenda · the scorecard)
August 25, 2026: Asheville council votes 5 to 2 to end the Flock contract. Roney moves, Turner seconds; Mosley and Smith vote no. More than two dozen residents speak, nearly all for termination and nearly all asking council to go further. On the dais, the mayor confirms the city’s existing Axon contract already covers stationary plate readers, none installed, and City Manager D.K. Wesley gives a verbal assurance none go up “until that community conversation happens.” Minutes after passage, Roney’s moratorium on purchasing new plate readers during the city’s own review fails for lack of a second. Full write-up: 2026-08-25 City Council.
August 2026, the region: Flock and Axon questions reach boards in four WNC counties. Henderson County’s removal campaign passes 1,000 petition signatures and Sheriff Griffin publishes a written defense with checkable claims; Brevard schedules a Sept 1 public session on Axon’s offer of three free fixed plate readers; Jackson County commissioners hear the sheriff’s numbers (1.19 million reads a month from four cameras) while the Sylva Herald’s records requests go unanswered; and App State, after finding its cameras were searched 1.5 million times in three months, mostly from out of state, cuts national network access while Boone PD cuts sharing to 41 agencies. County pages: Henderson County · Transylvania County · Jackson County · Watauga County.
September 16, 2026: Five Asheville council candidates answer on surveillance at a forum. Five of the six council candidates answer on surveillance at a candidate forum; Drew Ball: “We need closed loop systems that we control.” (2026-09-16 Council Candidate Forum)
What’s next
- Friday, October 9: voter registration deadline for the Nov 3 general election; same-day registration remains available during early voting.
- Tuesday, October 13, 5:00 PM: Asheville City Council, Council Chamber, 2nd floor of City Hall (in person). Agenda not yet posted.
- Thursday, October 15: early voting begins; it runs through Saturday, Oct 31.
- Tuesday, November 3: Election Day.
- Flock removal and data deletion: the contract requires Flock to remove its 11 cameras; staff committed on the record to notify council when data deletion is complete. Promise Tracker row 11 records when the cameras are verifiably down and APD’s Flock accounts are closed
- Spring/summer 2027: RTIC operational target. Promise Tracker