Flock Fails: Georgia PD arrests own officers for data violations
After internal audits of department surveillance systems, many police departments across Georgia discovered troubling patterns of data abuse by their own officers. In more than five districts, officers have been found guilty of using license plate reading (LPR) systems to track ex-girlfriends, romantic interests, and co-workers without their knowledge. One of the more serious cases involved an ex-police chief, Michael Steffman, who used the department's LPR system to stalk and harass multiple people until he abruptly resigned and was quickly thereafter arrested by the GBI. What is more troubling is that this case occurred in November of 2025, at a time when LPR systems were becoming a growing concern for the general public, making it more of a response to public interests than a proactive investigation led by city officials. Since then, many more departments have found similar cases, and despite incorporating a handful of tools to help analyze data during investigations, Flock has largely remained hands-off.
When it comes to proactive investigations, the divide between departments' preparedness for LPR systems and deployment continues to grow as Flock actively pursues an aggressive model of signing as many clients as quickly as possible. It should also be noted that while it is alarming that police departments have misused this data, they are not the only ones with access to the camera information. Flock cameras are also frequently deployed to private businesses, HOAs, and shopping centers. These cameras have the same capabilities as police LPR systems, feed into the same network, and carry the same risks and use-case ambiguity surrounding the data they collect. Curious users can find more information on recently prosecuted cases at the links below.
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