A proactive internal audit conducted by the Savannah Police Department has identified potential misuses of the department’s Flock Safety License Plate Reader (LPR) system. SPD has placed six employees on administrative leave pending discipline up to and including termination. SPD has also referred all six cases to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for an independent criminal investigation.
The potential policy and criminal misuse by four officers and two civilian staff members were identified through the department’s auditing and oversight processes of the Flock Safety Audit Assistance Program, which was made available by Flock Safety in April of this year. SPD initiated an internal investigation on Monday, July 27. If an employee is found to have misused the system, they are subject to punishment up to termination and or criminal prosecution.
The department announced that the four officers and two staff members allegedly conducted non-law-enforcement related searches, to include searches focused on personal acquaintances and family members. The alleged misuses also include an instance of one officer providing access to the SPD Flock system to an outside law enforcement agency personnel.
“Misuse of law enforcement tools and technology by SPD staff will not be tolerated,” said Savannah Police Chief Lenny B. Gunther. “The public places tremendous trust in us, and that trust must be earned every day. Our officers are entrusted with powerful investigative tools because they have a responsibility to use them lawfully, ethically, and only for legitimate public safety purposes. When our internal oversight identified activity that raised concerns, we acted immediately. We requested an independent investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, removed the employees from duty, and will fully cooperate throughout the investigative process.”
The Savannah Police Department maintains multiple safeguards to ensure the responsible use of its License Plate Reader system. These measures include mandatory user training, role-based access controls, comprehensive electronic audit logs that record every search conducted within the system, supervisory oversight, compliance reviews, and administrative investigations whenever potential misuse is identified.
Every search conducted within the Flock Safety platform is electronically documented, including the user, date, time, and reason for the search. Those records allow the department to audit system activity and to identify potential misuse.
The Savannah Police Department has further strengthened its oversight by implementing recurring weekly audits conducted by the Office of Professional Standards to ensure continued compliance with department policy and to identify any irregular activity requiring further review.
The criminal and administrative investigation is ongoing. Because the matter is now the subject of an active criminal investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, no additional information regarding the employees involved or the nature of the alleged misuse will be released at this time.
