Three Gwinnett County Officers Fired and Arrested Over Flock Camera Misuse

Three Gwinnett County police officers have been fired and arrested for misusing the county's Flock licence plate camera system. New access controls and retraining have been introduced.

Gwinnett County officers dismissed and charged over licence plate camera abuse

Three Gwinnett County police officers have been dismissed and taken into custody following an investigation into the unauthorised use of the county's Flock licence plate recognition cameras, cbsnews.com reports.

Renee Downer was arrested in May and charged with simple battery and stalking. Fellow former officers Derric Holmes and Matthew Lau face six counts and one count of misuse of licence plate data, respectively. Authorities have described the investigation as ongoing, with additional charges possible.

The probe gained momentum in June, when the Gwinnett County Police Department obtained access to Flock's auditing system, enabling investigators to review individual officers' search activity within the platform.

Following the arrests, the department has overhauled the procedures governing access to the system. Officers must now provide a written justification before conducting any search; a direct supervisor reviews the request and carries out the search if deemed appropriate. All officers have been ordered to complete mandatory retraining on the Flock system, and the data retention period has been cut from 30 days to 15 days.

Officers will continue to receive automated Flock alerts linked to vehicles suspected of involvement in criminal activity, searches for missing or endangered persons, and other public safety matters.

Police Chief J.D. McClure acknowledged public concern over the technology while defending its operational value. "When we identified misuse, we immediately acted and made significant changes to limit access and strengthen oversight," McClure said. "Flock is an extremely important crime fighting tool and misuse of this technology will not be tolerated."

The department noted that the Flock system has played a role in connecting vehicles to serious offences including homicides and kidnappings, and has assisted in locating individuals with dementia and other missing persons.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)