Documented Incident
Three fired Savannah police employees appeal terminations tied to alleged Flock ALPR misuse
First reported: September 16, 2026 · 1 source
Three former Savannah Police Department employees — ex-officers Marquis Dillard and Donald Phillips and former community specialist Calandic Thomas — appeared before the city's Civil Service Board to appeal their firings over alleged personal use of the city's Flock license plate reader system. The hearings centered on nearly 1,000 Flock searches, with all three acknowledging in testimony that they had used the system for personal reasons. Their defenses argued they were never specifically trained on Flock policy and that the department has disciplined similar conduct inconsistently; the city countered that a broader SPD policy limits department systems to legitimate law enforcement purposes. The board is expected to issue a recommendation within seven to 10 business days, after which the City Manager makes the final decision.
The case tests whether agencies can enforce limits on ALPR access without a dedicated written policy or documented training, and whether comparable misuse is punished consistently within the same department.
Key facts
- Dillard is accused of 455 searches involving a man he said was involved with the same woman he was seeing; Phillips is accused of more than 400 searches involving an ex-girlfriend and an associate of hers.
- Thomas, a non-sworn community specialist, was accused of searching for the father of her child, generating 17 alerts; she testified she knew nothing about Flock beforehand.
- Phillips' attorney, Cris Schneider, argued no specific Flock policy existed that employees were trained on; the city cited broader SPD policy and GCIC/NCIC certification training.
- Testimony described one officer who admitted using Flock to check on a boyfriend and received a written reprimand while remaining employed, and a separate officer terminated for using Flock for personal stalking.
- The three were fired and arrested; the appeals concern only their employment, and the arrests have not been resolved in the reporting.
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- Former Savannah police employees appeal firings over alleged Flock camera misuse (Wjcl Television, September 16, 2026)
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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 September 18, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.