Flock audit finds dozens of questionable searches by Atlanta police officers

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is proposing changes to the city’s Flock policy after a departmentwide audit into police officers’ use of the surveillance tool flagged several dozen questionable searches.

Dickens said Tuesday he will work with City Council members to “codify and strengthen” the city’s privacy, oversight and accountability standards governing the Atlanta Police Department’s use of the license plate readers.

“Technology that gives government extraordinary capabilities must come with extraordinary accountability,” Dickens said in a statement. “Public safety is not a blank check, and neither is privacy an excuse to deny law enforcement tools that can help save lives and solve crimes.”

The announcement comes after the mayor directed department leaders to conduct an audit of the police department’s Flock usage so far this year in an effort to root out any potential misuse.

Of the 115,578 Flock searches audited, city leaders said 0.07%, roughly 79 searches, were “flagged for additional review.”

A Flock Safety license plate reader is seen along a public road, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in Houston. (David Goldman/AP)

Further investigation will determine whether any of those searches deviated from policy or training, the city said, emphasizing flagged searches don’t necessarily mean an officer violated department rules or Georgia law.

Dozens of Georgia law enforcement officers have been fired or arrested in recent months for allegedly accessing Flock Safety’s sprawling network of tag readers for “non-law enforcement purposes.”

But Atlanta police haven’t publicly announced any allegations of Flock misconduct within its ranks, prompting questions about what department leaders might find during an audit of the state’s largest police force.

The probe comes as cities across the U.S. grapple with how to best balance privacy and safety.

Dickens said Tuesday that Atlanta can have both “effective public safety technology governed by clear rules ... and consequences when those rules are violated.”

There has been an uptick in vandalism of Flock’s pole-mounted license plate readers in recent months as more people push back against the Atlanta-based surveillance giant. Flock currently has contracts with an estimated 7,000 law enforcement agencies across 49 U.S. states.

Law enforcement officials have touted the technology as an investigative game-changer that helps police track down fugitives, locate missing people and solve crimes more quickly.

But the growing pushback against widespread surveillance has seemingly united people on the political left and right as more Americans question what is done with the data collected.

The mayor said Tuesday he will request an Atlanta City Council work session and public hearing, and that he’ll work with Council members over the next couple months to fine-tune the proposed legislation.

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said he expects the investigation into the flagged search activity to be completed within 60 days. Any corrective or administrative actions will be determined following that investigation.

“Transparency, accountability and public trust remain central to this process,” Schierbaum said in a statement. “APD is committed to ensuring license plate recognition technology is used responsibly, appropriately and solely for legitimate law enforcement purposes.”