The Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD) has implemented restrictions around the county’s Flock camera systems.
For now, only officers ranked lieutenant or higher will have access to the surveillance system, all other user access will be deactivated. Use of the system by a lieutenant must be approved by a communications administrator, or a higher ranked officer.
These new restrictions come after an ACCPD employee was reported for allegedly using the Flock system for personal reasons. The ex-wife of Criminal Intelligence Analyst Supervisor Nick Barker filed a complaint on August 27, claiming that Barker was misusing the Flock Automated License Plate Reader System.
An initial investigation revealed that Barker had repeatedly used the surveillance system to search for his ex-wife’s vehicle in 2025. Barker, who was a non-sworn civilian employee, was terminated quickly after, according to the ACCPD press release.
Weeks before his termination, Barker had advocated for ACCPD’s surveillance system in a conversation with Cameron Jay of the Classic City Crime Podcast. When asked how the county’s department would make sure that officers would not use the system for “nefarious purposes,” Barker said there were restrictions in place around the use of Flock License Plate Readers (LPRs)
“We have a very strict LPR policy when it comes here,” Barker said, “Every time you search anything regarding LPR, you have a law enforcement purpose for that.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the ACCPD Office of Professional Standards are still investigating the incident.
ACCPD’s Chief of Police Jerry Saulters said that he is committed to having a complete examination of ACCPD’s license plate reader technology and how the department uses it.
