ATLANTA — Mayor Andre Dickens plans to introduce legislation Sept. 21 establishing citywide privacy and oversight rules for license plate readers and other public safety camera technology.
The proposal would require audits, independent compliance reviews and public reporting. Dickens’ administration will seek a City Council work session and public hearing, aiming for council approval within 60 days of introduction.
What prompted it: The proposal follows an Atlanta Police Department audit of 115,578 Flock license plate reader searches conducted this year. Police flagged about 0.07% of the search activity for further investigation into possible policy or training violations.
Flagged searches are not confirmed violations. Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said he expects to complete the investigation within 60 days.
What would change: The legislation would establish rules for access, training, data retention and sharing across city departments. It would require monthly internal audits of high-risk law enforcement systems, quarterly public reporting and annual independent compliance reviews.
The proposal also would require vendor contracts to incorporate city safeguards and prohibit discriminatory, viewpoint-based, personal or commercial uses of covered technology.
What’s already changed: Police say they have revised department policy, established monthly audits, updated training and restricted outside agencies’ access.
What they’re saying: “Technology that gives government extraordinary capabilities must come with extraordinary accountability,” Dickens said. “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.”
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