Savannah Police investigates six employees over alleged misuse of license plate reader system
Six Savannah Police Department employees, four sworn officers and two civilians, are on administrative leave after a proactive internal audit found searches of the department's Flock system that had nothing to do with law enforcement. The searches allegedly focused on personal acquaintances and family members, and in one instance an officer is said to have given a person outside law enforcement access to the department's Flock system itself. The department opened its internal investigation on 27 July 2026 and referred the cases to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for an independent criminal inquiry, with discipline up to termination on the table. It is the second Georgia department in this position: Reason reports that at least twenty Georgia officials have been arrested for misusing the Flock database. Worth crediting plainly: the misuse was caught by the department auditing itself, and disclosed by the department.
From the reporting
- Four officers and two civilian employees are on administrative leave.
- The searches were allegedly non-law-enforcement, focused on personal acquaintances and family members.
- One officer allegedly provided Flock system access to someone who was not law enforcement.
- The misuse was identified by the department's own proactive internal audit, and the internal investigation began Monday 27 July 2026.
- Cases are referred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for an independent criminal investigation; the department says discipline up to and including termination is being pursued.
- Statewide context, per Reason's reporting: at least twenty Georgia officials have been arrested for misusing the Flock surveillance database.
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