The Macon County Sheriff's Office has fired Detective Jonathan Bean after an internal investigation determined he misused the agency's license plate reader system, a violation serious enough to cost him his job but not, authorities say, serious enough to bring criminal charges. The sheriff's office is based in Franklin, North Carolina, roughly a 180-mile drive west of uptown Charlotte.
According to WSPA, the sheriff's office fired Bean after investigators concluded he had misused its license plate reader system, though the agency has not detailed exactly how. Sheriff Brent Holbrooks said the matter first came to light when an outside agency reported the allegation on Oct. 16, according to the Charlotte Observer. The sheriff's office described the tip as coming from a credible outside agency, per WLOS.
Bean was placed on administrative leave immediately after the complaint surfaced while the sheriff's office opened an internal investigation, the Observer reported. That review, conducted by the department's Internal Affairs unit, found the complaint to be founded, according to Fox Carolina. Holbrooks then determined that termination was the appropriate action.
No Charges, but Few Details Released
Investigators have not released specifics on how the license plate reader system was misused, and Bean has not been charged with a crime. WSPA reports that Bean will not face charges because the misuse has exceeded the statute of limitations. The station also noted that details regarding how many times Bean improperly used the readers were not immediately available.
The sheriff's office said misuse of its technology and resources will not be tolerated and that misconduct allegations will be addressed promptly and appropriately, according to the Observer. Automated license plate readers use cameras and software to capture, analyze and store vehicle license plate information, and the resulting data is used to create vehicle-activity records and issue alerts in cases of criminal activity, per the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
A Statewide Pattern of Misuse Allegations
Bean's firing lands amid a string of similar cases surfacing across North Carolina this year. A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer was charged in July after investigators accused him of illegally accessing a government computer by searching Flock and CJLEADS systems for a non-law-enforcement purpose, according to the Carolina Journal. In a separate case, a Mooresville police officer was accused of searching the Flock system 31 times to track her boyfriend's ex-wife, the outlet reported.
Those cases have unfolded even as North Carolina expands its license plate reader footprint. The state's pilot program recorded more than 152.7 million license plates through March across 140 camera locations run by 17 agencies, the Carolina Journal reported, and lawmakers made the automatic license plate reader program permanent through a state budget provision signed into law on July 7.
Macon County Already Pulled Its Own Cameras
Notably, Macon County commissioners had already voted unanimously on July 14 to defund the county's Flock Safety license plate reader camera program, according to WLOS. Concerns about potential misuse or even hacking of the system have been widespread, Smoky Mountain News reported in its coverage of that defunding vote.
Under state law, data obtained by a law-enforcement agency through automatic license plate readers may be obtained, accessed, preserved or disclosed only for law-enforcement purposes, per North Carolina General Statutes § 20-183.31. Captured plate data generally must be destroyed within 90 days, but may be retained longer in specified circumstances, including under a search warrant or a sworn preservation request, according to G.S. § 20-183.32.
Not an Isolated Incident Nationally
Similar misuse allegations have surfaced well beyond North Carolina in recent weeks. In Texas, the Brenham Police Department said an officer was terminated for committing multiple violations of department policy involving license plate reader technology, according to KCEN. That department revoked the officer's access to all department information systems and reviewed a year's worth of prior searches, then added enhanced documentation requirements, specific search restrictions and mandatory quarterly audits to its policy.
In Georgia, the Vidalia Police Department requested a Georgia Bureau of Investigation inquiry on Oct. 14 after an internal audit of its own Flock Safety system, according to WALB. The GBI went on to charge former sergeant Sanantonio Wilcher, 37, of Lyons, with two counts of misuse of a license plate reader system and violation of oath of office.
In Florida, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office announced Sept. 30 that it had arrested two deputies following allegations they misused computer systems, including automated license plate reading cameras, according to TCPalm. One of those deputies, Karl Gwynne, was accused of searching a woman's license plate 300 times between January 2025 and July 2026, 207 of those searches occurring while he was off duty, and was charged with computer-system misuse and official misconduct. USA TODAY has analyzed more than 75 million Flock license plate reader searches spanning three and a half years across more than 6,300 agencies nationwide.
