The arrests of several Georgia deputies for the illegal use of Flock Safety cameras have ignited a fiery controversy across the state and nation.
Opponents argue the cameras are invasive, intrusive, and vulnerable to hackers.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard R. Sills pointed out that any tool can be misused by people in every profession, whether in the medical field, the financial industry, the justice system, the education system, or elsewhere.
“There are all kinds of laws that govern what pharmacists, attorneys, physicians, cosmetologists do,” Sills said. “I can go on all day listing the professions. But when was the last time you heard about the Medical Composite Board of Georgia arresting a doctor?
“How often does a lawyer get disbarred? Well, guess who is arresting the officers that did this?” he asked. “Other officers are. Nobody is policing themselves harder than the police do. Are there bad officers out there? You’re damn right there are. But compared to other professions, it’s a speck on that elephant’s ass.”
Sills also questioned the new requirement for law enforcement agencies to have a departmental policy governing the use of Flock cameras.
“Now, do I have a policy that says if you (a deputy) commit the crime of murder, I’m going to fire and arrest you?” he said. “No. That has been a crime all along, and so has this (illegal use of Flock cameras). So why did I have to have a policy for it?”
He emphasized that law enforcement officers have always been required to have an official reason to run a tag number or conduct a criminal history check through the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) or the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), and said Flock is no different.
However, in response to those who argue law enforcement can simply use GCIC and NCIC instead of Flock, Sills pointed out that NCIC does not notify him when the tag of a stolen vehicle or a vehicle associated with a wanted fugitive or missing child enters Putnam County.
“But the Flock camera sends me a message saying that stolen car or that murderer from Tucson, Arizona just went by the camera on Greensboro Road or Flat Rock,” he explained. “It doesn’t tell everybody that, but it does tell the officers who have computers in their cars, and they can go after it.”
Regarding complaints that law enforcement officers can use Flock to monitor every vehicle that passes a camera or check on a particular person for personal reasons, Sills said those critics do not understand how the system works.
“Anytime you make a false statement to law enforcement, it’s a misdemeanor,” he explained. “But if I make a false statement on this (Flock camera inquiry), it’s a felony.”
Sills said he believes Flock has been responsible for solving far more crimes during the past three decades than DNA or AFIS, the automated fingerprint identification system.
“I’ve been a law enforcement officer for 52 years, and do you know how many crimes I solved using fingerprints? Two,” he said. “But this (Flock) has been the best tool; it has helped us solve innumerable crimes.”
Sills cited several examples. In one case, more than $80,000 worth of equipment was stolen from a local business. In another, a group of undocumented immigrants stole a $300,000 truck rig from another business. Flock cameras helped investigators identify those responsible in both cases.
He noted that those arrested in both incidents also had outstanding warrants from other counties and states for similar crimes.
On a smaller scale, Sills said Flock cameras helped catch people who had been stealing mail, including checks, from mailboxes. He also cited a murder that occurred in Henry County but in which the victim’s body was dumped in Putnam County as another case solved with the assistance of Flock cameras.
“I want somebody to articulate what their problem with this is,” Sills said. “Every business you go into, there’s a camera there. The majority of residences have doorbell cameras. People have cell phone cameras.
“I want somebody to articulate how Flock cameras are intrusive,” he continued. “Do you know I can write a letter to any bank in the state of Georgia and get all of your banking records? I don’t even need a search warrant to do that. Now, I need an official reason to do it, or I’m going to be in trouble if I get caught. But there’s no policy on that. Yet, that is far more intrusive than anything about Flock cameras.”
Sills also said Flock cameras have helped the department locate numerous missing people.
“The second most-often used case is people with Alzheimer’s who are missing,” he said.
“Those are just a few examples,” Sills continued. “But if they want to take that away from us, then take it away from us. And every time you take something like that away from us, you demoralize us more.
“The officer wants to know, ‘What the hell do they want? Why am I busting my ass and risking my life for no pay, no insurance after I leave, and all this (expletive); yet I can’t use this tool, the best tool that there’s been?’”
Sills said he would not hesitate to arrest officers who misuse the system.
“If any officer does this, I’m going to lock them up,” he said. “But if they molest a child, I’m going to do the exact same thing. Or if they murder somebody or even if they shoplift. I don’t understand this.
“Nothing would make me happier than if we all went home for a month and then let everybody see just what happens. We saw a few examples of that when Katrina happened. But this is ridiculous.”