The City of Asheville published a “Technology and Public Safety” page in August 2026 (publicinput.com/f65124): frequently asked questions on the Real-Time Intelligence Center, body cameras, license plate readers and drones, a timeline, a question box, and links to documents. This annotation was built from the page as captured Sept 23, 2026; every document it links, including the 104-page Axon master agreement and the chief’s Aug 14, 2026 memo; the Axon and Flock transparency portals; the Connect Asheville registration site the page sends camera owners to; and Axon’s and Flock’s own product pages as read Sept 24, 2026. Local copies of each are held by this site (SRC 2026-0954 to 2026-0968).
The page posted the executed Axon contract, the master agreement and the Fusus appendix, which residents had asked for since the May 12 vote, and it links the Axon portal, which publishes retention, device counts and hotlist categories. This annotation rests on those documents: each answer on the page is quoted below beside what they and the city’s other records show. The city says it will revise its answers from the questions it receives, so the live page may differ. Everything else on the center is on The Real-Time Intelligence Center.
Which plate readers the answers describe
APD runs two kinds of plate reader, and the page’s answers are written for the one being shut off. The first plate-reader answer opens, in the present tense, “The Asheville Police Department (APD) utilizes Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology provided by Flock Safety,” on a page whose first box says APD “has deactivated all user accounts and access to the Flock system.” The safeguards that follow come from Interim Chief Jackie Stepp’s Aug 14, 2026 memo to council, titled “Update on APD Technology Flock ALPR Program.”
The plate readers APD uses today are Axon’s, mounted in patrol cars since April 2024: 139 active devices and 835,194 plate reads retained on Sept 23, 2026, per the city’s Axon portal. The page’s answers give them one sentence (“APD continues to utilize mobile (in-car) Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) systems by Axon”) and a device count.
| The page’s safeguard | Which program the figure belongs to | What the record shows for the Axon readers in use |
|---|---|---|
| ”automatically purged after 30 days” (four times) | Flock, before the Aug 14 memo cut it to 21 days | 21 days for plate reads and hotlist hits (Axon portal, Sept 23); search reasons and case numbers “captured in audit logs and stored indefinitely” (same portal) |
| “restricted to 12 authorized officers”; “reduced by 33% (from 18 to 12 officers)“ | Flock (the memo) | No count published. Policy 1703 sets no cap on who the chief may authorize |
| ”every search requiring a verifiable criminal case or incident number” | Flock (the memo) | “All data searches require a valid search reason or case number” (Axon portal): a reason alone meets the rule |
| ”APD conducts transparent, quarterly audits” | Flock’s program; for Fusus, Policy 1703, section 4.D | No audit of either system has been published. The policy sends the quarterly review to the chief |
| Sharing narrowed from a 500-mile radius to four states | Flock (the memo; the page does not state it) | No sharing rule stated for Axon’s readers. Axon sells ALPR Sharing, which lets an agency “invite a specific partner agency to search its data” (Axon’s Fusus page) |
| “11 stationary ALPR cameras” | Flock, contract terminated Aug 25, 2026 | 0 Outpost and 0 Lightpost fixed readers active (Axon portal). The contract lists “Lightpost” in APD’s “current inventory.” The same Aug 14 memo plans “expanding and integrating Axon’s ALPR capabilities” and “the Axon ALPR infrastructure operational” by February 2027 |
The page does not mention the memo’s plan for Axon plate-reader infrastructure, the Lightpost line, or City Manager D.K. Wesley’s Aug 25 statement that no stationary Axon readers go up “until that community conversation happens” (2026-08-25 City Council). The contract and the fixed-reader question are on the contract, as signed.
Wording the page shares with Axon and Flock
Several answers on the city page match, word for word or nearly, the marketing and registration pages of the two companies whose products they describe. The vendor pages were read Sept 24, 2026.
| The city’s page | The vendor’s page |
|---|---|
| Private cameras: “Camera registration takes less than one minute via our secure online portal. Registering your cameras does not allow the Asheville Police Department access to your live video stream - it only enables investigators to know a camera is present at your location and easily request video evidence should an incident occur.” | Connect Asheville, “©2026 Axon Enterprise, Inc.”: the same sentences, word for word, followed by “LEVEL 2: Integrate Your Cameras,” a “small CORE device” giving APD “direct access to your camera feed.” The city’s answer ends before Level 2 |
| ”enhances emergency preparedness by enabling public safety professionals to better assess and rapidly respond to criminal activity and emergency situations, as well as allowing investigators to easily gather evidence in case of an incident” | Connect Asheville: “will greatly enhance emergency preparedness by enabling police, fire, and public safety professionals to better assess and rapidly respond to criminal activity and emergency situations. It will also enable investigators to easily gather evidence in case of an incident.” |
| The RTIC “integrates technologies, such as body-worn cameras, Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs), and drones, into a single, coordinated interface,” provides “actionable intelligence,” and “improves situational awareness” | Axon’s Fusus page: “Unifies live video, alerts and field data into one view”; “unified visibility, actionable intelligence and rapid response”; “Integrated drone feeds for real-time situational awareness” |
| Plate readers are “an objective, crime-solving investigative tool” | Flock’s FAQ: “License plates offer police a piece of objective evidence that can be transformed into actionable leads.” APD’s Flock portal: “uses Flock Safety technology to capture objective evidence" |
| "not used for real-time tracking of citizens; instead, it provides targeted lead generation” | Flock’s Trust page: “It’s built for cases, not for watching people.” Flock’s plate-reader page: “to help generate investigative leads.” Axon’s Fusus page lists “Identify and track vehicles” among the platform’s functions |
| ”captures vehicle attributes only (plate, make, model, color). It does not capture, retain, or analyze human faces, occupant identities, or facial features” | Flock’s Trust page: “Searches are based on vehicle characteristics, and not identity. Flock cannot recognize, identify, or track individuals." |
| "Data ownership belongs 100% to APD. External sharing occurs exclusively with vetted law enforcement agencies under strict, reciprocal agreements that APD can revoke at any time.” | Flock’s Trust page: “Each agency controls its own data independently.” “Participation is opt-in, governed by defined agreements.” Axon’s Fusus page, on plate-reader sharing: “on terms it controls and revocable at any time.” Flock’s FAQ: “Flock customers own their own data" |
| "Flock does not own, sell, or monetize APD data” | Flock’s FAQ: “Customers own all of their data,” and “Flock will never share or sell data with third parties" |
| "Every search requires a documented criminal case number and generates an unalterable digital audit trail” | Flock’s Trust page: “Every search is recorded and tied to a specific user.” “Accountability is built into the system" |
| "Deployment adheres to CJIS benchmarks and independent ISO/IEC certifications for cloud security and data privacy” | Flock’s FAQ: “NDAA and CJIS compliant.” Axon’s Fusus page: “Meet CJIS and internal policy requirements through robust data governance standards and audit trails" |
| "a multi-layered governance framework that restricts system access, mandates justification for every query, and enforces strict routine oversight” | Flock’s guide for police presenting to councils, leaked in August 2026, advises answering surveillance concerns with “Who controls the system? Who can access it? How is information used?” (Flock’s guide for presenting to councils) |
APD is a customer of both companies. Connect Asheville is an Axon product, and Flock’s guide coaches police departments on how to present its cameras to councils. The record beside each of these answers is in the sections that follow.
The Real-Time Intelligence Center
The page. “The Real-Time Intelligence Center (RTIC) is a centralized hub that integrates technologies, such as body-worn cameras, Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs), and drones, into a single, coordinated interface. By utilizing these components through the Fusus platform, the RTIC provides actionable intelligence to support officers during active calls, investigations, and open cases.”
The record. The answer omits private cameras, which Axon’s Fusus page lists with the rest (“Shared cameras appear on the Fusus map in real time”). The Fusus appendix posted with the contract sets the product tiers, from 150 managed end points and no video streams to 4,500 end points and 4,500 connected streams, with “Indefinite Cloud Storage” of 2 to 30 terabytes in the four paid tiers. Which tier the city bought is in the Axon quote the contract references (Q-808220-46198AS), which is not posted. Policy 1703 sets no retention period for Fusus content (The RTIC Policy). The plain-language explainer is What Is the RTIC.
The page. “No, the RTIC does not utilize facial recognition technology.”
The record. Resolution 26-97 (May 12, 2026) and Policy 1703, section 1.G: “RTIC personnel will not use tools or platforms that use facial recognition technology.” The ban entered the policy in the July 9, 2026 draft; the June 25 and June 29 drafts did not have it. The policy is the chief’s to revise, and the workgroup notes record Stepp’s statement that any future use “would require a return to Council for approval,” a commitment that is not in the policy text (Promise Tracker, row 1). The posted contract and master agreement neither authorize nor prohibit facial recognition. Axon announced a field pilot of face recognition on body cameras of the model Asheville bought on Dec 8, 2025, and its Fusus page advertises Axon Vision, which alerts operators to “agency-defined situations” across connected camera feeds (What Axon Contracts Do). Whether the city bought Vision is in the unposted quote.
The page. “No, the RTIC is not used for passive surveillance of civilian activity. Integration with private security cameras is entirely voluntary and requires explicit permission from business owners or residents.” “Registering your cameras does not allow the Asheville Police Department access to your live video stream.”
The record. The second sentence is Connect Asheville’s Level 1 text, reproduced from the Axon-built site. Level 2 on the same site is “Integrate Your Cameras”: the owner buys “a small CORE device” that gives APD “direct access to your camera feed in case of a nearby emergency.” APD’s workgroup notes say the department “will begin to solicit integration in the Fall of 2026.” The county’s Fusus network, whose policy language APD copied, shows what integration produces: the Sheriff’s Office’s own access log, January 2024 to May 2026, records 217,506 live camera views against 7,052 recorded views, 58 percent of them on public housing (the Sheriff’s Office Fusus access log). The terms an owner accepts at Level 2 are on Before You Connect Your Cameras.
The page. “The Asheville Police Department has established a multi-layered governance framework that restricts system access, mandates justification for every query, and enforces strict routine oversight. APD ensures strict policy compliance through comprehensive quarterly audits of all system and network activity, backed by a zero-tolerance policy…”
The record. Policy 1703, section 4.D, as released in draft: “At least quarterly, the Professional Standards Section will randomly review user access logs within the Axon Fusus system,” with documentation “submitted to the chief of police or designee.” The policy has no publication duty and no report to council; it is not posted on the page, which says it “will be … published on our transparency portal.” A resident’s July 2025 request for the Flock audit logs was refused Sept 9, 2025 under G.S. 20-183.31(b) and G.S. 132-1.4 (Records Center). Sheriff Quentin Miller told the workgroup on June 11, 2026 that audits “serve internal purposes rather than the public directly.” The Public Safety Committee’s Sept 24, 2026 agenda carried no audit item (The Committee). No audit report or summary had been published as of Sept 24, 2026.
The page, timeline, June to July 2026. “A community-based policy workgroup, made up of eight diverse stakeholders, worked with APD to develop the RTIC policy. The policy will establish explicit, unalterable boundaries on what the technology can be used for (e.g., active emergencies) and what it is strictly prohibited from doing (e.g., random, passive monitoring).”
The record. Policy 1703 is a department policy the chief can revise without a council vote. APD’s own notes of the four workgroup sessions (June 11 to July 23, 2026) name the invited groups; no group that opposed the RTIC was invited, and the notes record the sheriff suggesting “we consider having those who are opposed join us at the table” and the chief answering that “we believe we are accomplishing this through the tours, community meetings, etc.” Between the June 29 and July 9 drafts, “Remote terminal access will not be permitted” and the once-per-shift hotlist review were removed (The RTIC Policy). The effective date was blank in the last released draft.
Plate readers
The page. “APD’s ALPR cameras capture a single, point-in-time photograph of a vehicle’s exterior … They do not stream live video or track individual routines.” “The technology is not used for real-time tracking of citizens.”
The record. The Axon portal, Sept 23, 2026: 835,194 plate reads retained over 21 days from 139 in-car readers, and 395 hotlist hits retained. The page’s own history answer says the Axon readers “provide real-time alerts directly to patrol officers in the field.” Axon’s Fusus page: “Officer location, alerts, dispatch data, ALPR overlays and video feeds appear on a single live map,” and “Identify and track vehicles.” What 21 days of dated plate reads can show about one person is on What a plate read becomes.
The page. “There are 11 stationary ALPR cameras and 162 cameras installed in APD marked fleet vehicles.”
The record. The Axon portal counted 139 active in-car readers on Sept 23, 2026, 137 on Aug 26, 2026, and 150 in February 2025 (Corrections). The 11 stationary cameras are Flock’s; their removal date is not set. The separate contract for 20 more Axon Fleet in-car readers, in signature in July 2026, is not posted and was not presented to council (The RTIC Policy).
The page. “Data is not shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”
The record. Policy 1703 does not mention immigration; its sharing clause allows disclosure “as permitted by law or with a compelling need to share such information for legitimate law enforcement purposes.” The chief told the workgroup June 11, 2026 that the DOJ grant carries “standard language that local law enforcement will cooperate with federal law enforcement investigations.” In the cases documented nationally, immigration searches of a local network were run by another agency in the network, not requested of the local department (Camera network misuse, documented cases). No sharing list for Axon’s readers has been published.
The page. “APD enforces 100% search accountability,” and “every search requires a documented criminal case or incident number.” “Every search … generates an unalterable digital audit trail.”
The record. The Axon portal’s own rule accepts “a valid search reason or case number.” The Flock audit trail exists; the city refused to release it in September 2025 (Promise Tracker, row 8). In Mooresville, 31 searches each carried a logged reason and passed review before the reasons were alleged to be false; EFF’s review of 11.4 million Flock searches found more than 14 percent justified with the single word “investigation” (Camera network misuse, documented cases).
The page. “APD has established one of the most restrictive and heavily audited ALPR operational policies in the region.” “Policy explicitly prohibits monitoring lawful demonstrations, political gatherings, or civil infractions.”
The record. No comparison with other agencies’ policies has been published, and no audit has. The written policy state law requires, APD Policy 505, is on PowerDMS (Documents); the page does not link it. Which APD policy contains the demonstration prohibition is not stated. Policy 1703’s June 25 draft authorized the RTIC to “utilize available technological resources near relevant events to look for suspicious activity leading up to and during the event”; the July 9 draft says “assisting in planning for public events, large crowds, and special operations” (The RTIC Policy).
Who owns the data, and who else can use it
The page. “Data ownership belongs 100% to APD.” “Flock does not own, sell, or monetize APD data.”
The record, for Axon, whose systems the city keeps. The master agreement the city posted as Exhibit B (Axon’s Master Services and Purchasing Agreement, version 19.0) says the agency “controls and owns all right, title, and interest in Agency Content,” and in the same section: “Agency agrees to allow Axon access to Agency Content to (a) perform troubleshooting, maintenance, or diagnostic screenings; and (b) enforce this Agreement.” A separate category, “Non-Content Data,” covers “data, configuration, and usage information about Agency’s Axon Cloud Services tenant, Axon Devices and client software, and users,” and the agency agrees “to allow Axon access to Non-Content Data” to “provide, develop, improve, and support current and future Axon products.” The same agreement enrolls every agency by default in Axon’s Customer Experience Improvement Program: “By default, Agency will be a participant in ACEIP Tier 1,” under which Axon “may make limited use of Agency Content from all of its customers”; its own example is “extracting license plate data to improve Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) capabilities.” The Fusus appendix adds that “Axon may collect, use, transfer, disclose and otherwise process Customer Content in the context of … monitoring the Customer’s use of FUSUS systems, and undertaking data analytics.” The city’s opt-out from the improvement program rests on an Axon sales representative’s July 16, 2026 email; no written confirmation has been posted (The RTIC Policy). Axon states it does not sell personal data, and nothing in the record contradicts that.
For comparison, Interim Chief Stepp told council May 12, 2026 (4:47:05): “Axon neither has access to the Fusus or to the system, or retains data.” Axon’s representative told the Asheville Watchdog: “We do not have access. We’ve never had access” (the claims, with sources).
The record, for Flock. Flock’s terms, attached to the posted Flock contract: clause 4.1, “Flock does not own and shall not sell Customer Data,” and the city “grants to Flock a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable, worldwide license to use the Customer Data”; clause 4.3 lets Flock use anonymized data for “other Flock offerings.” Through August 2026 APD’s Flock data was searchable by agencies within a 500-mile radius.
Drones
The page. “The Asheville Police Department and Asheville Fire Department established their respective drone programs in 2022.” “Drones are not used for continuous, routine, or random surveillance of the general public.” “Data captured is relevant only to the specific mission authorized and is managed under strict data retention policies.”
The record. The page’s own timeline dates the programs to June 2023. No retention period is stated. APD’s drones have been used in enforcement of homeless-related offenses (WLOS). The posted contract bundles the drones, and its pricebook page lists Skydio “DFR” (drone as first responder) plans; Axon’s Fusus page advertises “Integrated drone feeds.” Whether APD bought a first-responder drone plan is in the unposted quote. On Sept 24, 2026, APD told the Public Safety Committee its drone unit covered the G20’s temporary flight restriction “24-7” and located nine drone pilots inside it, and at the PGA Tour event provided “aerial coverage for the event and outer security as requested by the PGA” and “airspace monitoring to detect unauthorized flights from other drones” (2026-09-24 Public Safety Committee). The presentation named no retention period and no detection system.
The Flock exit
The page. “Asheville Police Department has deactivated all user accounts and access to the Flock system. The timing and process of removal of the stationary Flock ALPR cameras and related equipment are dependent on Flock.”
The record. No account-closure record, deletion confirmation, or removal date has been published. Flock’s terms (clause 7.2): on termination Flock “will remove any applicable Flock Hardware at a commercially reasonable time period.” The chief’s Aug 14 memo, written before the termination vote, said “APD is not pursuing a full transition away from Flock” and described a possible “Flock software license that would preserve access to the Flock network.” On Aug 25 staff said covering the lenses was not planned but “we can evaluate that as an option” (minutes). In Evanston, Illinois, terminated cameras were reinstalled (Getting Flock Out).
The timeline
The page lists twenty-two entries from 2015 to Aug 25, 2026.
The record. Entries the page does not carry, each documented on this site: the December 2022 MOU giving APD access to the county’s Fusus network; the Jan 24, 2023 council vote joining it, 4 to 1; the March 7, 2025 briefing at which council first heard of the plate readers and of access to “over 177,000 cameras”; the July 2025 records refusal; the April 14, April 28 and May 7, 2026 sessions; the July 16, 2026 emails sending the contract for signature with a second contract for 20 Axon Fleet in-car readers; the Aug 20, 2026 records release (the Asheville timeline). The April 2024 entry records a contract with Axon for in-car plate readers; that contract was not brought to council and is not linked. Errors within the page: the drone programs are dated 2022 in the answers and June 2023 in the timeline; the body camera rollout is complete by the end of 2016 in one and June 2017 in the other; the May 2026 entry carries the text of the Aug 25, 2026 resolution’s whereas clauses; the last entry is dated “August 25, 2006.” The tours are listed “every Thursday”; this site has carried them as every other Thursday since June 2026 (registration: 828-259-5881).
What the page does not carry, as of Sept 24, 2026
- The itemized Axon quote (Q-808220-46198AS): products, quantities, the Fusus tier, any drone or Vision plan.
- The 20-camera Axon Fleet contract, and the April 2024 in-car reader contract.
- Policy 1703 in any version, and Policy 505.
- Any audit report.
- APD’s plan for Axon plate-reader infrastructure by February 2027, and the city manager’s Aug 25 assurance against fixed readers.
- Connect Asheville’s Level 2, and the plan to solicit integrations in fall 2026.
- The master agreement’s access and data-program terms, and Axon’s confirmation of the opt-out.
- A count of who can search Axon’s plate readers or use Fusus.
- The ten-item review ordered Aug 25, its reviewer, and its schedule.
- The names of the eight workgroup participants, which are in APD’s own released notes.
The page takes questions through its own form and says the answers will be updated from them. Questions sent to avl-city-council@publicinput.com enter the council record. The asks this site puts to the manager, the chief, the council and the candidates are on Asking About the RTIC.
Related: The Real-Time Intelligence Center · The Axon contract, as signed · Asheville’s RTIC claims and the record · Flock’s guide for presenting to councils · The RTIC Policy · Getting Flock Out
Region: Asheville · Last verified: September 24, 2026