ATLANTA — Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens says he will introduce legislation at the Atlanta City Council to strengthen and codify the city’s rules for privacy, oversight and accountability with use of license plate readers and other technology.
The announcement comes a day after the Atlanta Police Department completed an audit of how its officers used the department’s Flock Safety surveillance technology.
That audit was initiated after a now-months long series of investigations announced across the metro Atlanta area and Georgia over how some law enforcement staff and officers were allegedly misusing the tools for more nefarious reasons.
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“Technology that gives government extraordinary capabilities must come with extraordinary accountability,” Dickens said in a statement Tuesday. “Public safety is not a blank check, and neither is privacy an excuse to deny law enforcement tools that can help save lives and solve crimes. Atlanta will have both: effective public safety technology governed by clear rules, meaningful oversight and consequences when those rules are violated.”
The APD audit found that fewer than 1% of Flock searches in the department were outside of appropriate policy, with a full 99.93% deemed correct uses.
According to city officials, APD audited 115,578 Flock license plate reader searchers conducted year-to-date in 2026.
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While the number of searches that were flagged as potentially inappropriate were just 0.07% of the department’s uses, Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said he expects investigations into those searches to be completed within 60 days.
Officials said corrective or administrations, if needed, will be carried out after those investigations.
As for the legislative push with the Atlanta City Council, the announcement from the mayor’s office said the ordinance would include the following rules and procedures:
- More clearly defining when and how license plate recognition systems may be used for authorized law enforcement purposes;
- Strengthening privacy protections and expressly identifying prohibited uses;
- Clarifying each employee’s responsibility to comply with departmental policy and Georgia law;
- Establishing monthly audits of system usage;
- Providing updated and refresher training;
- Restricting access by outside law enforcement agencies and requiring related inquiries to go through authorized APD task force officers;
- Restricting access to retired reserve login accounts; and
- Reinforcing the potential administrative and criminal consequences of misuse.
In a statement, Schierbaum signaled his agreement with the plan, emphasizing his commitment to transparency.
“Transparency, accountability and public trust remain central to this process,” Schierbaum said. “APD is committed to ensuring license plate recognition technology is used responsibly, appropriately and solely for legitimate law enforcement purposes. We will continue to evaluate our policies, training and safeguards and make improvements when necessary to maintain the confidence of the communities we serve.”
Dickens’ office said the proposed legislation is expected to be on the agenda at a Sept. 21 city council meeting.
Once the proposal is submitted, the Atlanta City Council will conduct a public review of the policies, including work sessions to review the legal and technological provisions of the legislation, as well as get input from Atlanta residents, safety professionals and others.
Once introduced, Dickens’ office said the City Council wants to have a final vote for consideration within 60 days.
“Public safety and personal privacy are not competing values,” Chief Operating Officer LaChandra Burks said. “Atlanta can protect both. Our goal is to give public safety professionals the tools they need while ensuring those tools are used lawfully, transparently and only for authorized purposes.”
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