Five GA cops used Flock cameras for personal searches, GBI says
Five police officers have been accused of using Flock license plate camera technology in South Georgia to make personal searches, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The officers, formerly with the Albany Police Department, were charged with misuse of license plate data and violation of oath of office in a July 6 statement from the bureau.
Tytianna Davis, 27, faces six counts, Jade Jackson, 32, faces three counts, Nicholas Richardson, 30, faces 12 counts, Brittney Smith, 23, faces two counts, and Issac Whitus, 24, faces three counts.
Albany Police asked for GBI investigation
According to the GBI, the Albany Police Department conducted an internal audit of their Flock license plate reader camera system and found it had been misused.
"This internal audit revealed that the officers previously accessed the Flock system on multiple occasions and utilized the retained license plate data for non-law enforcement purposes," according to the GBI.
The department then request a GBI investigation on June 25, 2026, leading to the arrests and dismissal of the officers.
Law enforcement officials didn't elaborate as to what searches were made by the officers within the system.
What are Flock camera systems?
Flock camera systems have been installed across the country to aid law enforcement by taking photos of license plates to identify vehicles, according to the company.
The cameras may identify the license plate, the make, model, color and other visible characteristics of a vehicle which can be passed along to various agencies if the vehicle was involved in an incident.
Despite accusations that the cameras act as a mass surveillance program, Flock assures users it does not use facial recognition software and focus solely on vehicles. The company says the cameras cannot be used to search for people, scan faces or track specific individuals. The company also says data is only held in the Flock system for 30 days unless otherwise required by law, and is not a limitless database of information on the public.
Flock says case proves system is working
Flock Safety issued a statement following the arrest of the officers, saying the case proves their system works to hold law enforcement accountable.
"According to public reporting and investigators, Flock's audit records played a key role in identifying and documenting the unauthorized searches," according to the statement. "While the incident has prompted renewed discussion about public safety technology, Flock believes it demonstrates the importance of designing systems with accountability built in."
The company says the Flock system records who accesses information, when the search was conducted, what information was gathered and what case is associated with the information search, making it clear when a search was not directly tied to investigative work.
Flock says the Albany case is the first confirmed instance of Flock's Audit Assistance capabilities being used to identify police misconduct.
"Technology doesn't create misconduct. People do," Paige Todd, Co-Founder of Flock Safety, said in the statement. "The question isn't whether someone will attempt to misuse technology. The question is whether the technology is designed to expose that misuse and help agencies hold bad actors accountable."
Flock cameras have mixed support in Georgia
Recently, Flock cameras in Atlanta helped multiple law enforcement agencies identify an accused shooter in a string of attacks that led to the death of a Department of Homeland Security employee, among others. The Flock system was owned and operated by the homeowners association in Brookhaven and identified a rental car that appeared in the area of one attack and was then tracked to the other neighborhoods.
Earlier this year students from Emory University protested the use of the cameras on campus and in Atlanta. Part of the system integrates with third-party cameras, meaning while the Flock-specific cameras may only log vehicle data, opponents allege other identifying factors of people could be obtained by third-party collaborators.
Dunwoody also voted to expand their Flock partnership earlier this year following significant community opposition. In the past year, the company has been accused of working with ICE, and allowing private companies to access their camera data.
Flock Safety says "your neighborhood retains control over its data. Flock processes and stores data on the customer's behalf, with access and sharing controlled locally. Flock Safety does not sell customer data or access it without authorization, except as required by applicable law. Your neighborhood controls who can access and share footage," according to the security section of the company's website.
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: Five GA cops used Flock cameras for personal searches, GBI says
Reporting by Irene Wright, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 1:52 PM.