Sen. Walker seeking more information about Flock traffic cameras before 2027 legislative session

State Sen. Larry Walker is concerned about the number of law enforcement officers who have gotten in trouble and fired for their abuse of Flock traffic cameras.

Walker, who represents Laurens County in Senate District 20 and serves as the body’s president pro tempore, expressed his concerns in a letter to the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police Director A.A. “Butch” Ayers and J. Terry Norris, who serves as the executive director of the Georgia Sheriff’s Association.  

The senator is currently in what he calls an information-gathering mode as he prepares for next January. He is confident there will be some legislation introduced about this.

“I want to have the facts,” Walker said. “Because of all of the furor about it, I wanted to get up to speed on it. We continue to hear about the misuse of automatic license plate readers. Agencies do an audit and finding out that some are abusing the information or they are not using it lawfully or properly. I’m just trying to understand who authorizes the use (of Flock cameras) and who has access to the data.” 

Among the questions he submitted, Walker wants to know is the data owned by the private entity or the law enforcement agency, how long is the data retained and is it being deleted after a certain period of time? 

He has heard from an amount of constituents and members in law enforcement about this issue.

“They all have concerns,” he said. “I think we need to put some guardrails around it and make sure it is being used in a lawful manner and there is accountability if somebody is abusing it and have an appropriate punishment.” 

He believes there needs to be some transparency when Flocks cameras are installed. Walker thinks local municipality should pass a local act so there is some public input and transparency.

Walker said Flock cameras are too valuable. 

“They have saved lives and restored children to their families,” he said. “They have been a great crime deterrent and crime-solving tool. I just think we need some guardrails.” 

In the letter, he points out that the cameras have helped find stolen vehicles, support investigations and protect communities.

“We also value recent initiatives by law enforcement agencies to self-regulate and improve internal practices in regard to the use of these systems,” Walker wrote. “At the same time, recent allegations of improper use – resulting in stalking, misidentification and unjustified arrests – have understandably heightened privacy and accountability concerns for our constituents. In light of this, I believe we must begin a cooperative, transparent conversation so state policymakers and law enforcement agencies can work together to preserve effective public-safety tool while addressing legitimate public concerns.”

Walker would like to hear from Ayers and Norris about their top concerns about deploying this type of technology in the communities.