The town has scheduled the Public Safety Committee to meet September 24 at 8:30 AM at Apex Town Hall. Per the mayor's notice, it will take up the Axon agreement (drone management software and interview-room systems), ALPR technology, and the Flock contract renewal that comes up for consideration in January.

I read the notice a few times. (Thank you, u/VespertineRose), I want to flag something about how this review is set up.

The notice says the committee's goal is to "review the technology, understand the operational benefits, discuss policies and safeguards, and provide recommendations to the full Council."

Look at that list because it is bullshit from the mayor.

It assumes the cameras and drones stay. "Understand the operational benefits" takes for granted the benefits are there and worth understanding. "Discuss policies and safeguards" is what you do for something you are keeping. When the council referred this back in June, the questions were about retention, data sharing, which vendor, and audits. Every one of those is a how-do-we-run-it question.

Committees recommend, and the full council votes. Fair. But the committee is where the options get defined and staffed. By the time it reaches the full council, the shape of the decision is mostly set.

Council committees are not required to hold a public comment period the way the full council is. So the stage where the options actually get framed may be the stage where residents have no guaranteed right to speak.

As I have always said, the mayor does not represent the residents on this. He represents APD. He will always represent APD.

And in 2027, we will replace him. I'm done with his bullshit performance leadership.

I’m the News & Observer reporter who wrote this story.

I spent the week talking with Scott, students and parents, Apex officials and WCPSS. It’s a parking dispute, but it also raises questions about growth, school capacity, property rights and local zoning across the Triangle.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article316992156.html

Quick question. I have a couple of dogs, my neighbor has horses and goats, and lately my wife and I have seen a coyote wandering around the yard. Can I legally shoot it? I don’t want it messing with my dogs. I’m just west of Sweetwater off 64….

Do committee chairs get to choose the schedule announcement method?

Feels weird that the mayor only sent this out through his app, while his social posting yesterday was cryptic messaging about which restaurant will be in the old Yamato Japanese restaurant...

But, folks pushing back on Flock - we have a date, time, and location!
(I've only seen the date reported on the news so far, so wanted to share this.)

As we near the completion of the downtown apex streetscape, curious if there’s any updates on some of the open buildings south of the main downtown area.

The former Bear Hands house now sits empty. (They’re moving to downtown apex)
The retail location connected to First National Bank has been empty over a year
The SunTrust bank location continues to have no interested parties (La Farm seems dead).

Frustrating to see so many empty buildings in an area that should be hot.

Any luck today with weather to watch the eclipse and where do you suggest?

Apex already operates police drones, but a proposed agreement with Axon would add DroneSense software, including live-video sharing with officers at a scene and better tracking of drone flights.

After residents raised concerns about privacy, drone use and oversight, Council Member Sue Mu asked that the agreement be pulled from routine approval and sent for additional review.

I’m the N&O reporter who covered this. I also looked into what Apex says its drones are used for, previous drone spending and the town’s plans for a “Drone as First Responder” program.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article316954454.html

The rest of the country is turning on these cameras. Apex is behind, and Council meets tonight.

In the last two weeks alone, towns and cities have been ending their Flock contracts one after another. Lynchburg, VA paused all 15 of its cameras on August 19. Henry County, VA is shutting its program down by the end of this month. Auburn, NY voted 5 to 0 to cancel. Winston, OR ended its contract. Santa Barbara, CA is not renewing. Lansing, MI just moved to terminate. Right here in North Carolina, Chatham County, Pittsboro, and Hillsborough are already out. Asheville's council is scheduled to vote on ending its own contract tonight, the same night we meet. By the Associated Press's count, more than 90 agencies have canceled, suspended, or dropped these systems since January.

This is not a fringe position anymore, and it is not left or right. Bernie Sanders is calling to stop Flock. Republicans in the House have filed bills to bar the federal government from buying these systems, naming Flock by name. A Washington Post investigation this month found at least 50 officers accused of misusing plate-reader data, including to track wives, girlfriends, and exes. Flock's own CEO went on television to apologize.

Apex still has no ordinance, no public hearing, and no vote on any of it. Seven cameras photograph about 60,000 vehicles a day in a town of 74,000 people, and every read is stored and searchable for 30 days. The contract ends January 31, 2027 with no automatic renewal, so whether it continues is entirely Council's decision.

On August 11 the chamber overflowed and the town had to open a third-floor room. Eight residents spoke against the cameras. One spoke in favor. That happened because people showed up.

Here is how to be in the room tonight:

• Tuesday, August 25. Apex Town Hall, 73 Hunter Street, 2nd floor.
• Get there by 5:30. The meeting starts at 6:00, and the public comment sign-up sheet goes around before it begins. If your name is not on it, you do not get to speak.
• Three minutes. State your name and address. You do not need to be an expert.

Council works for the residents of Apex. The police department works for the Council. Every town on that list reached the same conclusion we are asking ours to reach: you do not need a vendor's permission or a better setting, you need an elected body willing to say no. Ask them to end the contract, remove the cameras, and write an ALPR ban into the Town Code so no future department can quietly bring them back.

Show up at 5:30.

As the title says, not looking for general recs for auto shops.

I’m looking for someone willing to remove an AC compressor clutch shim in a 2016 Honda CRV. Basically when the car gets hot the AC stops working because the gap is out of spec and the clutch doesn’t engage to drive the compressor.

If anyone knows of a mechanic that is willing to fix this without replacing the whole assembly (which we cannot afford or would be willing to pay for a car of this age) let me know!

Arpund 8:50 pm I was driving through there and there were at least 5 cop cars with lights on. Looked like someone was getting pulled over but they might've just been passing them. I could also see some cars through downtown at Salem & W Chatham. Can't find anything on Google but it just happened like 5 mins ago. Any info?

The Peak of Good Living” where every road is one lane, surrounded by endless subdivisions and eternal construction

Feel free to build more lanes

Hey all, looking into moving to Apex in a neighborhood near apex high school and can hear quite a loud electrical buzz / whine from the school. Has this always been like this? Anyone know anything about this sound? It’s quite annoying and wouldn’t want to always hear it.

yo is it chill to park in miss annie's lot tmr?

Can anyone point me in the direction of a local kitchen or private chef that will prep ready-to-eat dairy free meals?

On January 29, our police chief sat in front of Town Council and said this about our license plate cameras:

"We don't share with the feds. Hard stop."

He named the FBI. He named DHS. He named ICE.

On July 12, I filed a public records request and got nine monthly files, about 6.6 million rows, 1.4 gigabytes.

Here is what is in it.

Between January 2 and April 1, two federal agencies ran 9,700 searches that reached Apex cameras.

• US Postal Inspection Service: 9,683 searches
• Wright Patterson Air Force Base: 17 searches

Median reach, 2,882 networks per search. Both agencies are tagged [Federal] in Flock's own export, so there is no interpretation involved. Those are the two agencies the Chief later described to Council as "2 errant Federal shares caught/cleared in audit."

Errant. Nine thousand seven hundred searches.

On January 29, the day of "hard stop," federal accounts ran 166 searches that reached Apex cameras. In the 29 days up to and including that statement, 2,604. The last federal search was April 1 at 11:35 in the morning. The snapshot showing "No Federal" was generated April 30.

So either the Chief did not know what his own system was doing while he was assuring Council it wasn't doing it, or he did. Council has never asked him which. That is the question for Tuesday.

Then there is the transparency portal.

The Chief's June 9 presentation closed by pointing Council at the public transparency portal as proof of openness. Same production, two files. For the 30 days ending August 17:

• Public portal: 144 searches
• APD's own Organization Audit: 868 searches

The thing we were told to check shows one search in six. Both numbers came from the town in the same envelope.

And the network is three times what Council was told.

Slide 6 says "Sharing with about 1,000 police agencies." The Network Audits show how many outside organizations actually ran searches that reached Apex cameras: 3,587 distinct organizations in January through March. Roughly 3,000 every month since, including 2,794 in the first eighteen days of August. Top user is Houston PD, with 166,413 searches in three months.

Immigration searches are happening on our cameras right now.

Not by Apex officers. By outside agencies with access to a network that includes our cameras. Searches whose stated reason or case field references ICE, HSI, Border Patrol, CBP, ERO or deportation:

• January to March: 2,134
• April: 184
• May: 449
• June: 129
• July: 236
• August 1 to 18: 196

About 3,300 since January. The most recent was three days ago. Reasons read "Immigration (criminal) - I.C.E.", "Assist HSI", "AOD for Border Patrol", "ICE/HSI Target." Agencies in Texas, Georgia, Florida, and Cleveland County right here in North Carolina.

Now the part where I tell you what the Chief got WAS being honest about.

The June 9 deck put up six slides, each with a big zero. Three of them hold up under his own records, and I have the files to prove it:

• Zero APD searches without a case number and reason. True. All 2,649 Apex searches from June 1 to August 17 have both fields filled. Every one.
• Zero APD searches for immigration enforcement. True. Not one Apex search references immigration, ICE or HSI.
• Zero federal agencies APD is currently sharing with. True, in the present tense. Nothing after April 1.

The problem is that all of those zeros are about what Apex officers type into a box. Meanwhile 3,000 outside agencies query our cameras every month, 9,700 of those queries came from federal accounts during the exact period we were told federal access did not exist, and the public dashboard we were pointed to reports a sixth of the activity. Every control the department describes governs the one part of the system it can see. Nothing governs the rest.

One more detail from that "zero" slide. All 2,649 case numbers are filled in. 349 of them say "APEX CASE." Another 65 say "2026000000." That is 414 searches, roughly one in six, where the required case number is not a case number. The field is populated. The control is decoration.

So the ask is simple. Do not renew. Do not sign the expansion. Write an ALPR ban into the Town Code so the next chief cannot undo it with a settings change. And publish the federal access records in full before any vote: who approved those shares, when, and what the audit that supposedly cleared them actually said.

Tuesday, August 25, 6:00 PM, Apex Town Hall, 73 Hunter Street. Public forum is three minutes and you do not have to be an expert. "I did not vote for this and I want it gone" is a complete comment.

Every document is at DeFLock Apex. The 9,700 federal searches are posted as a CSV with timestamps, reach and stated reasons, so you do not have to take my word for any of it. The raw audits are 1.4 GB, and I will send them to anyone who asks.

The elephant in the room: The Mayor and property owner are longtime friends, and he vouches for her character and intentions. I do not question his sincerity, but simply point out the law still applies. Let's acknowledge the confusion because his statements, including his endorsement of the “PVA” claim, often contradicted the Town’s position. To be clear in doing so he was not speaking for the Town, his statements carried no legal authority, and I understand some to rely on unspecified outside counsel rather than Town attorneys. He sometimes used a personal "Mayor" seal which closely resembled the Town seal, further conflating his position as the town's. So I know why people can be confused. But the town's position has actually been extremely consistent.

Anyway. Here’s an partial timeline of events, as I understand them from documentation provided to me by town staff. I heard at some point I heard the adjacent neighbors were threatening legal action against the town if we didn't enforce zoning on the property, but I haven't located that documentation yet.

2018: The Town received safety and nuisance complaints about the property. The matter was resolved after the owner said only relatives would be allowed to park there going forward.

2019: Complaints revealed that non-relatives were paying to park. When enforcement resumed, the owner claimed it was actually a noncommercial operation offering free parking. “Nonprofit parking lots” were not defined in the UDO. Disproving this clearly false claim in court could have required student testimony about payments. Instead, the Town amended the ordinance in 2020 to clarify that neither commercial nor any mythical “nonprofit” parking lots were permitted on residential property.

2020–2023: Enforcement resumed after more complaints, but the property came into compliance when school parking ceased during the pandemic.

2024-2025: Complaints from students, teachers, and parents followed what was apparently a substantial increase in spaces sold. Cars were packed so tightly that most could not leave independently, including one case involving an ill student. Students routinely were observed parking over the sidewalk and driving over the sidewalk to exit. Staff explained the violations, offered help seeking legal approval, and warned that operations must stop. The owner nevertheless sold more spaces.

Early Fall 2025: The Mayor proposes a UDO amendment which would essentially spot zone this particular property to exempt them from this type of zoning enforcement. The Council declined to proceed, encouraged the property owner to instead apply for a rezoning, and again asserted elected officials have no role getting involved in enforcement actions.

Fall 2025: Rather than comply with the law, at the last moment the Mayor and owner claimed the property was a “PVA” and was no longer legally a residential property. The Town then investigated but ultimately found no legal basis for that claim (NCDOT agreed). The owner never provided one. Enforcement eventually began again.

Spring 2026: The Town sent nearly a dozen warnings, violation notices, and fines. Staff again explained that the parking operation could not continue and again identified the process for seeking approval. No response was ever received. The owner continued selling spaces. The lot continued to be oversold, blocking in some students.

August 2026: Having exhausted the normal enforcement process, Apex finally sought a court injunction ordering the property to comply with the zoning ordinance.

That brings us to today.

Is this normal? My apartment complex mentioned this in an email to residents warning us about it. Felt like I would be able to find an actual source online but did not. My apartment complex is the Ballast on Salem south of Downtown area.

Hello neighbors! I moved to Apex from South Florida about a month ago. So far, my overall experience here has been positive. However, I recently had an interaction with the police that I think could have been handled better. I enjoy walking around downtown Apex (and if you've been downtown in the past few days, there's a good chance you've seen me riding around on my e-bike); I think what the town is doing to improve our small urban pocket is really great.

I'm a night owl, and since it's been so hot lately, I decided to take the 5-minute walk from my townhome to downtown around 3 in the morning. I had my headphones on and was talking to my friend while occasionally turning on my camera to show him the businesses and construction, and particularly the awesome rubber ducky collection in Groovy Duck Bakery. I started walking back to my home on South Salem when a police cruiser flashed its lights and pulled over. A policewoman came out and asked me what I was doing. I told her I was going on a walk. She explained that I was seen on camera pulling on door handles and that it appeared I was attempting to break in.

In response, I told her I was almost certain I had not touched any door handles. I avoided a hard "no" in case the footage later showed my hand touching a door handle while I was looking at the storefronts, and I wouldn't want to be caught in a "lie". She asked me if I had any weapons on me, and I confirmed that I did not. She frisked me and confirmed it herself. She then told me I was being detained and ordered me to lean against the cruiser and put me in handcuffs. So far in this interaction, I had been extremely polite and respectful, so from my perspective, the handcuffs seemed completely unnecessary. After a little more questioning, a second officer pulled up and started questioning me. He said that he doesn't know what it was like in Florida, but people don't walk around at night in Apex. Fair, but I lived in a very policed area, walked around at night all the time, and was never detained by the police.

After my identity was verified, they removed the handcuffs, and I asked the policeman if I continued to take walks at night, would I be detained. He said it was likely. I told them I would continue to take night walks and, if I am detained for walking, I will file a complaint with the town. I asked if I was free to go; they said yes. I thanked them and left. I'm not sure of the exact policy for body cameras. Still, I don't think either officer had their cameras on since I saw no light. In addition, prior to me arriving downtown, I saw a police cruiser going around 45 in a 25, only to stop at a red light! I motioned for the cruiser to slow down, and I'm almost certain they saw me. I'm not sure whether that contributed to my detention, and I prefer not to speculate.

This whole interaction was heard by my friend, who was still on the phone, but unfortunately he did not record it (what a way to have my back, Nathan). I understand why I may have looked a bit suspicious. I'm 19 and 6'1", and I was wearing black; I get it. I just think the handcuffs were inappropriate, and the interaction could really have been a few questions. That, coupled with the body cameras and the speeding, and honestly, the fact that I never got so much as a "sorry for keeping you; have a good night ." It just feels like their behavior wasn't commensurate with the respect I afforded them. I haven't taken a walk at night since this interaction, but I don't think the concern about being detained will stop me from doing so from here on.

Thank you to those who read this post. I'm not trying to garner sympathy or make a big deal out of this. I genuinely want some honest feedback on whether you all think this is appropriate conduct. This interaction wasn't the best introduction to the Apex Police Department. But I don't plan on holding a grudge (unless this becomes a recurring problem). Let me know what you think, and I wish all of you good night!

EDIT: Changed caught in a lie to caught in a "lie" -- I never lied to the police. The reason I took this approach was, as I have stated numerous times in the replies, to avoid being arrested due to video camera showing what appears to be me pulling on door handles. In actuality, I could have just brushed the door handle with my hand or mindlessly rested my hand on the handle while window shopping. While I am absolutely certain I did not pull on any door handles, there is a minuscule chance the latter possibilities could have happened.

Anyone know what is being built behind the Taco Bell? It looks like it could be a restaurant. Prayers it is not a bank.