After weeks of heated debate over privacy and police tech, the Dunwoody City Council on Monday unanimously signed off on a master service agreement with Flock Safety that city leaders say finally puts formal "guardrails" around the system. The deal covers license-plate readers, drones and other tools tied into the police department’s real-time crime center, reaffirms that Dunwoody owns the footage, and gives city officials the power to cut off data sharing with federal agencies. The move comes after extended public comment and technical vetting in the north-Atlanta suburb over security risks and who beyond city limits can tap into the camera network.
What council approved
The newly approved agreement spells out a few key limits. It confirms that the city, not Flock, retains ownership of any data collected; it prohibits the company from selling footage or using it in advertising; and it hands local officials explicit control over whether federal agencies can get access. As reported by FOX 5 Atlanta, council members cast the package as an attempt to keep the public-safety upside of the cameras while answering residents’ mounting privacy concerns.
What the contract documents show
Alongside the master service agreement, the council also reviewed a FlockOS 911 order form that would route live 911 audio and written transcriptions straight into Dunwoody’s Real-Time Crime Center. According to the city’s meeting packet, the OS911 form is structured as a 12-month subscription with a first-year cost of $15,000 and automatic renewal language, and it explicitly folds in Flock’s online terms along with a link to Prepared911’s terms. Those documents were included in the public agenda and served as the backdrop for the council’s discussion of day-to-day operations and potential liability.
Security worries and public pushback
Critics at the meetings argued that the new contract language does not fix deeper security and auditability problems that surfaced in recent reviews. A technology audit presented to city leaders flagged prior breach concerns, gaps in controls to prevent misuse, and the lack of mandatory multi-factor authentication. Demonstrations by independent researchers of vulnerabilities in Flock devices added more fuel to the fire. Local coverage of the meeting and the audit laid out those objections and the volume of public comment. Atlanta Community Press Collective detailed the audit findings and the testimony from residents who remain uneasy with the system.
Flock and city officials respond
On the other side of the debate, city outside counsel Jill Dunn told the council the negotiated agreement "creates necessary boundaries" around how the vendor and police work together. A Flock spokesperson countered that the company has been "exceptionally transparent" and has built tools meant to boost accountability and public trust. In comments reported by FOX 5 Atlanta, both the city and the company framed the new MSA as a way to keep investigative capabilities intact while tightening some controls on third-party access.
How this fits into a national debate
Dunwoody’s vote lands in the middle of a broader national fight over Flock-powered camera networks and how far police should be allowed to go in searching license-plate images. Reporting from national outlets shows communities taking sharply different routes, with some jurisdictions shutting systems off entirely, others writing fresh restrictions into vendor contracts or state law, and security researchers and privacy advocates continuing to press for tougher oversight. The Guardian has followed similar clashes and the policy ripple effects in other cities that are wrestling with the same technology.
What happens next
The council’s unanimous vote clears city leaders to operate under the new master service agreement while they keep an eye on how the system runs and on any outside data requests that come in. The agenda packet for the April council meeting, which included the MSA, the OS911 order form and supporting staff memos, remains open for public review as Dunwoody rolls out the updated controls. Have I Been Flocked and the official city packet both host copies of the documents that shaped the council’s decision.
