Arrests in Georgia related to the misuse of Flock Safety's automatic license plate reader (ALPR) system have risen to at least 20 officials statewide as of July 31, 2026. Among those charged is Andrae Wright, an investigator with the Ogeechee Circuit District Attorney's Office northwest of Savannah, who allegedly accessed the license plate reader system over 60 times between June 15 and July 5, according to WSB-TV Atlanta.

Additionally, the Habersham County Sheriff's Office in north Georgia announced that Deputy Christian Brewer was fired and arrested for allegedly misusing license plate data. Reports indicate Brewer's misuse involved "an individual with whom Brewer had a personal relationship at the time," according to NowGeorgia.com.

Flock Safety, the largest ALPR provider in the U.S. with over 120,000 cameras nationwide, introduced an Audit Assistance tool in April 2026 to help agencies detect misuse. The company stated that this tool "has helped several agencies identify misuse cases that might otherwise have gone undetected."

Michael Soyfer, an attorney at the Institute for Justice, expressed concerns about the extent of law enforcement's warrantless searches within Flock Safety's license plate data. He described the system as a "black box" with limited public transparency and noted that "Flock's ultimate customer is the police department." Soyfer warned that relying on these tools amounts to "leaving the police to police themselves," making it "impossible to find all the misuse."

In a related lawsuit filed in April against San Jose, California, the Institute for Justice found that the city's 474 Flock cameras were searched nearly 2.5 million times in the last six months of 2025, averaging over 15,000 searches per day with minimal oversight. Soyfer also criticized the vague justifications officers provide when conducting license plate data searches, sometimes citing only "criminal justice."

The ongoing arrests in Georgia highlight growing concerns about surveillance, privacy, and accountability in the use of automated license plate reader technology.

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