Documented Incident

Police MisuseInvestigationsAuditsData SharingGeorgia

Six Savannah police employees placed on leave after audit flags Flock camera searches

Event: August 3, 2026 · First reported: August 3, 2026 · 27 sources

The Savannah Police Department placed six employees — four officers and two civilians — on administrative leave on Friday after an internal audit identified alleged misuse of its Flock license plate reader system. According to SPD, the employees are accused of running searches unrelated to law enforcement, including on acquaintances and family members, and one officer is accused of granting an outside agency unauthorized access. Mayor Van Johnson, Chief Lenny Gunther and City Manager Jay Melder addressed the findings Monday, expressing disappointment while defending the camera program. Gunther said he is developing a formal policy governing Flock use, and the department's audit tool will now run weekly reviews.

Why this matters

Savannah says its automated auditing caught the conduct, but the department acknowledges it did not yet have a formal written policy governing Flock searches — a gap other agencies deploying ALPR systems may share.

Key facts

Timeline

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

More from Georgia

Everything we have documented in Georgia, or search every Georgia article in the archive.

About this record

BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.

Updated August 25, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.