It all started with a few students at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta trying to figure out who was breaking into nearby cars. Then, it grew to be the center of a national debate over civilian surveillance.
Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company, is wrapped in a spiraling national controversy over the surveillance of Americans through automated license plate reader cameras, or ALPRs.
The company operates more than 120,000 cameras nationwide and partners with hundreds of jurisdictions, from police departments to homeowners associations, to provide a searchable vehicle database intended to stop and solve crimes. Flock cameras capture not just a license plate number, but details about a vehicle like the make, color, damage or bumper
stickers. It's intended to make it easier for law enforcement to track down suspects.
The reality, however, is a little more complicated.
Law enforcement agencies in Flock's home state of Georgia have charged more than two dozen officers or employees with using Flock systems for personal searches, in some cases to stalk and harass civilians with whom they have a personal relationship.
From a former 911 director in Dallas to five police officers in Albany, the story of Flock in Georgia has been about misconduct, rather than public safety.
Now, Athens has become the latest jurisdiction to be forced to reckon with the expansion of Flock — and it's misuse.
Athens joins Georgia towns navigating Flock
On Friday, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department announced the termination of Nick Barker, the Criminal Intelligence Analyst Supervisor and a non-sworn civilian employee for misusing Flock technology.
Barker's ex-wife had reached out to the police department alleging he had used the ALPR system to search her car multiple times over the course of a few months in 2025, the department said.
ACCPD has requested assistance from GBI in investigating the misuse, and an internal investigation will determine if criminal charges should be filed.
"Trust is the foundation of our relationship with the community we serve, and there is no greater responsibility than protecting that trust. I am deeply disappointed by the former employee’s actions and their impact on the confidence our community places in this department. Conduct that compromises that trust has no place within the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, and we will continue to hold our employees to the highest standards of integrity and accountability," Chief of Police Jerry Saulters said in an Aug. 28 statement. "To that end, I am committed to moving forward with a complete examination of ACCPD’s ALPR technology and how we use these systems."
Barker, however, had previously touted ACCPD's Flock "guardrails" in a 2025 interview with the Red and Black, a student-run newspaper in Athens, following upgrades and renovations that included Flock systems at the city's Real Time Crime Center.
"(The community) may think, 'Big Brother', I don't blame them. I understand where that's coming from. But honestly, we don't have the time or really want to be Big Brother," Barker told the outlet last year. "We put in guardrails in place so that whenever somebody does a search into say our license plate reader system, they have to put down a reason as to why they're doing it."
According to DeFlock, an online database that maps ALPR cameras, there are as many as 100 cameras in the greater Athens area, included multiple cameras on or around the University of Georgia campus. The majority of the cameras have been identified as Flock Safety cameras.
Georgia law enforcement arrest their own
Flock founder Garrett Langley called recent police arrests "disappointing," in previous comments, but ultimately said arrests show that the internal audit tools instituted by Flock were working and law enforcement was being held accountable.
The company also recently changed its data retention policy, changing the default from 30 days to 7 days for images of vehicles. Langley said police misconduct has existed long before Flock, and the company is working to increase transparency between their system and the communities they serve.
Being the home state of Flock Safety, Georgia communities were quick to partner with Flock, and Atlanta has one of the highest densities of ALPRs in the country. Now, it's also where police misconduct arrests are piling up.
Here's a look at some recent arrests:
- Criminal analyst, Athens-Clarke County Police Department
- 911 director, Dallas Police Department
- Five police officers, Albany Police Department
- Two supervisor-level officers, Cherokee County Sheriff's Office
- Sheriff's deputy, Greene County Sheriff's Office
- Sheriff's deputy, DeKalb County Sheriff's Office
- District Attorney investigator, Effingham County Sheriff's Office
- Four officers, Richmond County Sheriff's Office
- Four officers, two civilian staff members, Savannah Police Department
- Police Chief, Braselton Police Department
What do Flock cameras look like?
Flock cameras are not the only ALPRs used in Georgia, meaning it's important to know the unique features that help identify a camera as Flock-operated.
Flock ALPRs are typically at the top of a black pole with a camera on one side and a solar panel on the other. You can usually spot them along highways, near intersections or on commonly traveled roadways.
Some Flock cameras look more like the traditional security cameras found in stores or around schools. A large white protrusion holds the camera away from the pole, but there could still be a solar panel at the same location. Video cameras can get more information on a vehicle other than just the license plate.
There are also audio recording devices that can be attached to other tall poles, light posts or intersection infrastructure. The audio devices can be used to detect gunfire and other emergency sounds like a car crash and report the sound to local authorities.
The company says the audio recorders can catch what a camera would miss, meaning law enforcement can respond to emergencies before a camera is able to capture an event happening.
Many Flock camera tracker programs rely on community submissions for where Flock cameras are installed, and while it is a good way to see where cameras are posted, many of these sites are unreliable for identifying the system associated with a camera.
Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: GA crime analyst who misused Flock previously touted 'guardrails'
