Documented Incident
LaGrange, Georgia police investigating possible LPR misuse by officer during 2025
Event: August 19, 2026 · First reported: August 19, 2026 · 9 sources
The LaGrange Police Department said it opened an investigation into whether one of its officers misused the agency's license plate recognition system between March and December 2025. Chief Garrett Fiveash said he consulted other agencies that have handled confirmed misuse cases to learn what audit red flags to look for, such as an unusually high number of searches tied to a single plate. The department said Flock, an LPR vendor used by the city, made an audit function available to it late last year. The officer has not been publicly identified, and the department has not said whether discipline or criminal charges will follow.
The case illustrates that misuse of plate-reader systems is often detected only when vendors provide audit tools and agencies actively review logs, raising questions for other departments about how much surveillance activity goes unexamined.
Key facts
- Activity under review occurred between March and December 2025; the investigation was announced Wednesday, August 19, 2026.
- Chief Fiveash said access to Flock's audit function became available to the department late last year.
- Existing safeguards, adopted before the possible misuse was found, require two-factor authentication, an offense type, a case number and a written narrative before a search, plus monthly audits by the Office of Professional Standards.
- LaGrange has used LPR technology with a governing policy since 2018, according to the department.
- Unknown: the officer's identity, how many plates were searched, and whether disciplinary or criminal action will result.
Timeline
- August 19, 2026LaGrange police investigates officer license plate reader searches
- August 20, 2026LaGrange Police investigate license plate reader misuse
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- LaGrange police investigates officer license plate reader searches (fox5atlanta.com, August 19, 2026)
- LaGrange Police investigate license plate reader misuse (WTVM.com, August 20, 2026)
- LaGrange Police officer under investigation for possible misuse of license plate reader system (Newsbreak, August 20, 2026)
- LaGrange Police officer under investigation for possible misuse of license plate reader system (11Alive.com, August 19, 2026)
- LaGrange Police officer under investigation for possible misuse of license plate reader system (Yahoo, August 19, 2026)
- LaGrange Police officer under investigation for possible misuse of license plate reader system (11Alive.com, August 20, 2026)
- Bloomingdale police officer’s possible misuse of Flock cameras under investigation (Daily Herald, August 22, 2026)
- LaGrange police investigates officer license plate reader searches (Yahoo, August 19, 2026)
- Ga. police employee fired, facing criminal investigation for allegedly misusing Flock cameras (Newsbreak, August 29, 2026)
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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 30, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.