SAVANNAH, Ga. — Mayor Van Johnson said Tuesday that Savannah will keep its Flock Safety license plate reader cameras running, even after an internal review cost six police department employees their jobs for using the system in ways that broke policy.
The six were four sworn officers and two civilian workers, according to the mayor. He said the case was handled both as an administrative matter and as a criminal one, and it was referred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Johnson said he believes four of the six now face criminal charges, with the courts left to decide those cases.
One of the fired employees, Amber Harp, was let go after investigators found she had let her husband, who works as a federal agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, use her city-issued login. That account ran 983 searches on 97 license plates from January through July, touching six states. Most of those searches, 788, were in South Carolina, and most of the vehicles belonged to Hispanic owners. Johnson said the city never authorized ICE to see its Flock data, and that the GBI did not bring charges in that part of the case for reasons he could not explain.
Savannah shares its Flock information with close to 1,700 outside agencies, and ICE is not on that list. Outside agencies must sign an agreement with the police department that spells out how the data may be used.
The cameras record a vehicle make, model, color and plate number, but not faces, and the data is held for 30 days, Johnson said. He credited the system with helping police make arrests in murder, aggravated assault and attempted murder cases, and with finding stolen cars and missing people.
The department still lacks a policy written just for Flock. It now works under a broader technology policy that also covers ShotSpotter and the GCIC and NCIC crime databases. Johnson said a public portal showing how the cameras are used is in the works, and he expects to give an update on the new policy next week.
Section: More Savannah GA crime news
Filed under: Savannah GA Public Safety News
