A University of Georgia Police Department IT employee has been demoted and stripped of access to investigative databases after an internal audit found he ran unauthorized searches through the department's Flock automated license plate reader system in 2025. The employee used the system without supervisor permission to look into a hit-and-run involving a family member's car and a theft at a local business, according to the agency.
The internal affairs investigation determined the employee accessed the Flock system twice in 2025 for those off-campus incidents, as reported by CBS Atlanta. UGAPD said the employee's conduct was not illegal, but he was suspended without pay for 20 days and later demoted to a role with no access to investigative databases, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. The employee had technical access to the system as IT staff but lacked the supervisor authorization required for the searches.
UGAPD chief Jeff Clark said the staff member's behavior violated departmental policy regarding misuse of a law enforcement database and failure to notify the chain of command. Clark added that the campus community trusts the police department to be forthright and transparent, per the same CBS Atlanta report.
UGA Tightened Rules Before the Audit Caught the Employee
The timeline shows UGAPD moved to close gaps in its Flock policies before this particular misuse was even uncovered. In July 2026, the department preemptively updated its automated license plate reader rules, requiring supervisor approval from a sergeant or above for both internal searches and outside agency requests after observing Flock database misuse at other Georgia agencies, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. Monthly compliance reviews would be conducted going forward. The employee's 2025 searches predated that policy update, and the internal affairs audit that eventually flagged them came afterward.
University officials noted in September 2026 that UGA has invested more than $30 million in public safety initiatives involving license plate readers over the past decade. That includes a $7.3 million allocation announced in February 2024 that expanded ALPR cameras across the 760-acre Athens campus, a package Hoodline previously reported was tied to campus safety after tragedy following the murder of student Laken Riley.
Part of a Statewide Pattern of Flock Misuse
The UGAPD case lands amid numerous cases involving Georgia law enforcement. By September 2026, numerous law enforcement personnel across multiple Georgia agencies had been fired, arrested, or disciplined in Flock database misuse probes triggered by internal system audits, according to CBS News. Georgia-based Flock Safety operates a nationwide network and has customers in 49 states, according to The Current GA. In August 2026, the company announced an audit tool. Flock also said customers would have to implement an audit tool by January 1, while default data retention would shrink to seven days.
Unlike some other cases in the statewide purge, UGAPD determined its employee's actions were policy violations rather than crimes. In August 2026, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested four former Savannah Police Department employees, three officers and a civilian specialist, on charges related to violation of oath of office and ALPR misuse after those officers were accused of using Flock to track personal acquaintances or romantic partners, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. Georgia Code § 35-1-22, enacted in 2018, makes requesting or using captured license plate reader data for a non-law enforcement purpose a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, per Justia Law. The same statute exempts captured plate data from public disclosure under the state Open Records Act.
Lawmakers and Privacy Groups Push for Change
The wave of misuse cases has drawn attention from state lawmakers. In August 2026, Georgia State Senator John Albers joined a legislative task force exploring whether legislation is needed to address police misuse of license plate reader databases, according to WABE. Lawmakers are reviewing whether current criminal statutes provide sufficient deterrence against unauthorized surveillance searches.
The national ACLU has separately raised concerns about changes to Flock's system. UGAPD said it changed employee use of the Flock system in 2026, now requiring all searches to be authorized by a supervisor at the rank of sergeant or above. The University of Georgia case adds one more case to a growing list of Georgia Flock misuse cases.
