Cobb Police Chief Dan Ferrell will be holding several town hall meetings over the next month in response to concerns over how law enforcement is using Flock surveillance cameras and other new technology.
One of those town halls will be in East Cobb, on Aug. 31 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.
Cobb County government on Wednesday announced the town halls as “community conversation about License Plate Readers (LPRs), Flock Safety technology, and FUSUS.”
The latter is a a cloud-based real-time crime center and public safety intelligence platform and is among the tools that Cobb Police have been using to track criminal activity.
“These meetings are an opportunity to learn how these public safety tools are used by the Cobb County Police Department, what information they provide to law enforcement, and how they support criminal investigations and public safety,” the Cobb government announcement said.
“Most importantly, we want to hear from you. Residents will have an opportunity to ask questions and hear directly from Chief Ferrell and department leadership.”
A number of incidents in Georgia and around the country have taken place alleging or involving law enforcement misuse of some of that technology.
In Paulding County, the former 911 director in Dallas is facing charges of accessing the Flock surveillance system for non-police reasons.
And in Macon, three Bibb County Sheriff’s Deputies have been arrested for using the Flock system for matters involving individuals with whom they were having personal relationships. All three have resigned from their positions.
Cobb Police have not been facing any similar situations, and have on occasion touted how Flock and other technology has helped to solve serious crimes or at least led to arrests.
That includes a mass shooting near Cumberland Mall in 2023 in which an arrest was made after Cobb DOT traffic cameras pinpointed the whereabouts of the suspect, and Flock cameras identified a vehicle in Midtown Atlanta that allegedly belonged to him.
In June, Cobb Police tracked down a suspect in a road rage incident in Northeast Cobb after reviewing real-time camera footage to identify his vehicle as it headed to Cherokee County, where he was arrested.
On Thursday, Flock announced it will be making some changes to address concerns over privacy and law enforcement excess.
The Cobb Police announcement about the town halls on its Facebook page has generated more than 600 comments, many of them critical of having Flock and other technology at all.
“Are you actual going to listen to residents, or just tell them why you’re going to keep flock cameras against the communities wishes and continue to use them even though they violate our rights?” asked one commenter.
“It’s a violation of privacy and you need a warrant. Stand up against this. Constitution protects us against this in the 4th amendment,” wrote another.
Another commenter who said he toured the Cobb Police Real Time Crime Information Center was told that department leaders had given a similar tour to the American Civil Liberties Association, and that “the ACLU reps asked for a copy of the Center’s policies as they felt it would make a great example for all agencies, nationwide, to use. Cobb citizens should be very proud of what CCPD is doing to protect and serve the community.”
The Cobb Police town hall sessions are scheduled as follows, with all taking place between 6:30-8 p.m.:
- Thursday, Aug. 27, at Milford Recreation Center, 675 Smyrna Powder Springs Road, Marietta
- Monday, Aug. 31, at Sewell Mill Library, 2051 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta
- Tuesday, Sept. 1, at West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs
- Tuesday, Sept. 15, at North Cobb Senior Center, 3900 S. Main Street, Acworth (in Kenworth Park)
Related:
- Cobb Fire and EMS recognized for firefighter cancer research
- Cobb jail detainee, 64, dies after suffering cardiac arrest
- Barista injured after car crashes into East Cobb Starbucks
- Woman injured in Brumby ES carpool crash facing charges
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