GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County city that relies on county police is weighing whether to switch off its two license plate cameras, and the councilman behind the plan wants a vote this month.
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Sugar Hill City Council Member Gary Pirkle’s ordinance would remove the city’s two Flock Safety cameras, end its contract with the company and require a council vote before any new camera goes up.
“We have no need to be surveilling our citizens,” Pirkle said. “I want them gone.”
The council tabled the ordinance 5-0 on Aug. 10 after Pirkle’s motion to approve it failed to get a second, city minutes show.
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A rewritten draft posted in September would still remove the cameras but let the city manager approve future ones, a change Pirkle said he opposes.
Christopher Bruce is the deputy executive director of the ACLU of Georgia. He said other cities have contacted the group, which is pushing a model ordinance that calls for town halls before a purchase and automatic audits.
“Usefulness does not eliminate the need for rules,” Bruce said. “We put limits and oversight around powerful government tools precisely because they can be used in a powerful way.”
Gwinnett County police run their own cameras in Sugar Hill, and both drafts leave those in place. The department’s chief, J.D. McClure, addressed them at a budget meeting this week.
“We have to continue to do a better job of educating the public on the use of Flock cameras,” McClure said. “There’s a lot of misinformation as it relates to this technology.”
Pirkle said he is no fan of the county’s cameras either.
“If this ordinance passes, I won’t be able to say that you’re not surveilled in Sugar Hill, but I can say we’re not the ones doing it,” Pirkle said.
The council holds a work session Monday. Pirkle said he will ask for a vote at its Oct. 12 meeting.
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