Another Georgia cop accused of misusing Flock data in growing trend
Irene WrightA DeKalb County deputy accused of misusing Flock Safety camera data adds to a growing list of law enforcement officers charged with violating their oath.
Sgt. Kabiru Salawu, a 17-year veteran of the agency, was fired and arrested for unauthorized use of Flock license plate reader technology, the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.
The agency said the misuse was identified during an internal probe, and Salawu was immediately terminated following the discovery. Salawu was charged with misuse of license plate data and felony violation of oath of office.
"The public expects and deserves integrity from every member of the agency," Sheriff Melody Maddox said in a statement.
"The misuse of law enforcement technology or confidential information for any unauthorized purpose is a serious breach of the public's trust and will not be tolerated.
When misconduct is identified, we act swiftly, hold those responsible accountable, and remain committed to the highest ethical standards."
The agency did not release which data Salawu accessed or for what purpose.
DeKalb deputy adds to concerning trend in Georgia
The arrest of the DeKalb deputy adds to a growing list of law enforcement officials who have been caught abusing the license plate data they have been given access to and tasked with protecting.
Earlier in July, five officers with the Albany Police Department were accused of using Flock camera data for personal searches, according to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation report.
The police department requested GBI when an internal audit exposed the misuse. The officers were charged with misuse of license plate data and violation of oath of office.
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, and all were terminated by Albany Police.
Four officers in Richmond County have faced the same charges in recent weeks, along with three police officers in Fayetteville, a deputy in Greene County and three deputies in Cherokee County.
It brings the total arrests of law enforcement for license plate misuses in Georgia to 17 in the past few months.
Flock camera data leads to arrest in DeKalb
At the same time the data is being misused by law enforcement, it is still leading to arrests in the same communities.
DeKalb County Police responded to a shots fired call in a parking lot near Martins Crossing and Hemingway Road on the afternoon of May 18, and found a woman who had been shot in her vehicle, according to a Flock Safety news release on July 20.
The woman had been shot multiple times and tried to drive away before crashing a short distance later. She was pronounced dead on the scene.
Flock Safety says the company's cameras in DeKalb County were used to identify the alleged shooter's vehicle, and it was then tracked to a nearby street. The vehicle was approached by SWAT and the shooter was apprehended without further incident.
"Cases like this reflect how Flock's technology is designed to work: giving investigators real leads quickly while upholding rigorous standards for privacy and responsible use," the company said.
Flock says audit system is working as intended
Flock Safety, and Atlanta-based company, issued a statement following the arrest of the Albany 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.
"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."
In recorded comments sent to USA TODAY from Flock Safety, company co-founder and CEO Garrett Langley called the recent arrests "disappointing," but they show anyone using license plate readers "should be held accountable."
"We heard from customers loud and clear, we heard from communities loud and clear, Flock should do more. There should be more responsibility, more accountability built in," Langley said, applauding the company's recently launched internal audit program.
"The way the audit assistance tool works is very similar to how your bank account when you log in from a new city when you're traveling says 'hey, I want to double check who you are.'
It's not saying that you've done something wrong, it's just saying that this is abnormal," Langley said. "(The tool) is flagging potential abnormal activity so that in an audit review you can know where to start."
Langley said the company has built in accountability since it's inception nine years ago, but it has been "more effective than anyone expected."
Opponents say Flock cameras come at a cost
Opponents of the Flock Camera technology say even with the arrests, the expansion of the cameras both in Georgia and across the country comes at too high a cost.
DeFlock Atlanta, a group that focuses on "4th amendment privacy and ALPR awareness" in Atlanta, places signs underneath Flock Cameras that alert drivers their "movements have just been logged into a private, searchable database," according to the signs.
The group states that profiles are created on vehicles and their drivers whether they are committing a crime or not, and that once the cameras are in place in your community there is no going back.
DeFlock, a national organization, says automated license plate readers (ALPRs or LPRs) are "AI-powered cameras that capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, storing details like your car's location, date, and time" and collect the data (which includes identifying details like dents or bumper stickers) "regardless or whether the driver is suspected of a crime."
"These systems are marketed as indispensable tools to fight crime, but they ignore the powerful tools police already have to track criminals, such as cell phone data, creating a loophole that doesn't require a warrant," the organization alleges.
The group opposes a wide variety of ALPRs, but notes Flock Safety is the largest ALPR vendor in the United States, and is used not only by law enforcement but also private businesses and homeowners associations.
Data from Flock Cameras are also uploaded to the company's cloud system, which DeFlock says can be used to search and share data across multiple jurisdictions or between Flock customers.
Officials in Barrow County are investigating felony vandalism of Flock cameras as distrust of the technology grows across the state.
Aside from individual citizens concerned about their own data, communities also worry the data could be accessed by government organizations like ICE and used to track and ambush immigrants in their neighborhoods, or to keep tabs on their community.
"We support over 7,000 law enforcement agencies, over a million crimes a year. Our responsibility to safeguard that technology has gone up," Langley said.
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.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/state/georgia/atlanta/2026/07/21/veteran-atlanta-deputy-adds-to-growing-list-of-ga-cops-misusing-flock/90992565007/
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