AI-powered cameras are on this Hilton Head beach. Why are they there?
Earlier this month, a surveillance camera system was placed at the entrance to Hilton Head Island’s Coligny Beach.
Fitted with solar panels, wheels, and a battery pack, the high-tech system stands out amongst Hilton Head’s sandy beaches and blue skies. Monday morning, the two cameras mounted to the contraption were pointed squarely at the main access point to Coligny Beach as people strolled by.
On social media, some are calling them “Flock cameras.” But is that really what they are?
Natalie Bencivenga was visiting Hilton Head from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when she noticed the cameras and posted about them on TikTok earlier this month. In the video, she claimed she learned from a lifeguard that the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office placed the system there.
Bencivenga went on to refer to the cameras as “Flock cameras,” which are license plate reader cameras, and questioned why they were on the beach.
“Where is this information being stored?” Bencivenga asked. “Does the public know this is happening?”
The video was shared on X, formerly Twitter, on an account for podcaster Mario Nawfal. The post was viewed more than 77,700 times.
“AI-powered facial recognition cameras are now watching you on the beach in Hilton Head, SC,” the post says. “Solar-powered Flock cameras with biometric ID capability are now in public spaces.”
While the cameras do have facial recognition functionality, they are being misidentified by those social media accounts as “Flock cameras,” BCSO Captain Brian Baird told The Island Packet.
“The Sheriff’s Office does not have any Flock cameras,” Baird said. “We’ve never purchased any, and have no intention of ever purchasing any Flock cameras.”
So what are they?
Why are there cameras on Coligny Beach?
According to Master Sergeant Bob Herlong , the solar-powered surveillance trailer is a piece of equipment that BCSO has owned for about three years.
The moveable camera system is used for “crime prevention,” Herlong said. Whenever BCSO receives a lot of complaints coming from one area, the department moves the camera to that area to help deter further activity.
Recent reports of late-night gunfire and large gatherings in the Coligny area prompted BCSO to move the camera to the beach entrance, officials told The Packet.
In April, a 20-year-old was arrested after allegedly firing three shots in the direction of “innocent people” at Coligny Beach around 10:40 p.m. on a Saturday night. Beachgoers “fled the area in panic” but no gunshot victims were located, police said.
In June, a 27-year-old from Georgia was arrested after allegedly firing a gun on Coligny Beach around 3 a.m. on a Wednesday. The suspected shooter allegedly “just felt like shooting off shots” and did not have a specific target, police previously told The Packet.
Even though the town closes its beach parks at 10 p.m., police see an increase in after-hours activity during the summer, Baird said.
“This time of year we have a lot of juveniles that like to hang out after hours,” Baird said.
Beaches and parking lots have become hotspots for loitering activity in recent years, according to Bob Bromage, Public Safety Director for the Town of Hilton Head Island.
“The Coligny area in particular has become a place where young adults and juveniles loiter, from 10 o’clock at night into the wee hours of the morning,” Bromage told The Packet. “Some of these young adults, juveniles are carrying guns.”
What can the camera do?
The cameras mounted to the BCSO’s movable surveillance trailer are not Flock cameras, Baird said.
They do have the ability to do facial recognition, Baird said. Officers can upload a picture of a person and ask the system if it saw that particular face, he said.
The cameras are manufactured by Verkada , according to Baird. According to its website, the company offers “AI-powered physical security” with “cutting-edge AI-powered search, alerts, and analytics features.”
Through Verkada’s system, users can search for people, faces, and objects. For example, users can enter “Man in white sweatshirt on January 23,” or ”White Tesla with tinted windows” and see results in seconds, according to a promotional video for the software.
Users can use artificial intelligence to create customized alerts for persons of interest, line crossing, motion detection and more, the website says. Some default options include detecting a person climbing over a fence, a fight breaking out, but users can create custom alerts, such as a person wearing a high-visibility vest without a hard hat, according to a product video.
The cameras attached to the trailer appear to be the company’s PTZ camera series, based on product photos on the company’s website. According to product listings, the cameras can pan 360 degrees, tilt 220 degrees and zoom up to 32x.
The equipment offers a “sentry mode,” which users can enable to automatically detect and zooms in on people that enter its field of view, following them for approximately 15 seconds before zooming out.
According to Baird, the video footage is stored for up to 30 days.
“There is no right to privacy on a public beach,” Baird said. “We’re responding to citizens’ complaints of criminal activity in the area. That’s what it’s there for, is public safety purposes.”
Are there Flock cameras in Beaufort County?
Automated license plate readers manufactured by Flock Safety and other security companies do collect data on roads throughout Beaufort County, previous Island Packet reporting shows.
As of February 2026, there were at least 70 automated license plate readers in Beaufort County. The cameras and systems collect and save tags for up to 30 days, regardless of system or municipality.
Police departments in Beaufort and Bluffton, as well as the Town of Hilton Head Island, which does not have its own police force, have contracts with Flock Safety, the Packet reported. BCSO purchased Rektor cameras and Verkada systems.
Officials insist people who aren’t engaged in criminal activity have nothing to worry about, and that cameras have been instrumental in locating suspects in multiple shooting cases, murders and break-ins and finding stolen vehicles, runaways and people in distress, previous Island Packet reporting says.
