DeKalb County commissioners voted 5-2 in Decatur on Tuesday, November 10, to reject an independent civilian committee that would have monitored and audited the county's Digital Shield surveillance systems — the network of Flock automated licence-plate readers and police cameras now operating across one of metro Atlanta's largest counties.
Source: News Now Georgia
The resolution, introduced by Super District 6 Commissioner Ted Terry, called for independent civilian oversight and auditing of the county's police surveillance network, along with surveillance impact reports and regular public reporting on how the systems are used. A community advisory element was part of the proposal debated in committee, modelled on civilian-oversight frameworks used in other jurisdictions.
Terry introduced the measure after reports accused Georgia law enforcement officers of improper surveillance use. The debate carried extra weight in DeKalb because a county internal review separately found that several DeKalb Police employees had previously violated departmental rules governing surveillance-camera use — a finding that oversight supporters cited as proof that internal checks alone were not enough.
Commissioner LaDena Bolton opposed the resolution, arguing that surveillance technology helps law enforcement and that camera placement or stronger internal policies could be considered instead. It was not clear whether opponents would bring forward another policy proposal of their own.
After the vote, two basic facts about Digital Shield remained unknown in public: how often the police department audits access to the system, and whether it makes its usage reports public. The rejected committee would have been charged with answering exactly those questions.
What Digital Shield is
Digital Shield is an $18.9 million countywide public-safety initiative launched on October 1, 2025, and unanimously approved by the Board of Commissioners. County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson announced the programme as a partnership with Flock Safety, deploying licence-plate recognition cameras at data-identified locations across DeKalb, integrating the feeds with a Real Time Crime Center for live monitoring and investigations, and collaborating with neighbouring jurisdictions that already use the same technology, according to the county.
Source: DeKalb County Government
A debate running since August
The oversight fight did not begin this week. In August, residents urged the commission to cancel the county's Flock contract altogether, and the board deferred the oversight resolution — item 2026-0769 — for further committee review. In committee, the resolution again drew debate about necessity and existing audits, with some commissioners proposing quarterly reporting and calling for clearer evidence of need instead of a standing civilian body. Tuesday's full-commission vote ended that process with the measure rejected.
DeKalb is not alone in arguing over licence-plate readers. This week Seattle's mayor moved ahead with expanding that city's police surveillance cameras after an independent audit, while Fresno, California, has decided to walk away from Flock Safety and look for a new vendor under new guardrails — three large jurisdictions reading the same privacy-versus-safety question three different ways.
What happens next
Terry indicated he was unlikely to reintroduce the measure soon, and county rules require at least three commissioners to endorse a proposal before it can be brought forward again. For DeKalb drivers — including the county's large immigrant communities, whose members pass plate readers on daily commutes — Digital Shield will keep operating and expanding under police department rules alone, with no civilian committee watching how the data is searched, shared or kept.