Overview
- The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Heidi Taylor, 52, on Wednesday and charged her with two misdemeanor counts for allegedly using the Dallas Police Department’s Flock license‑plate reader system for non‑law‑enforcement searches between 2024 and 2025.
- Taylor’s arrest follows a months‑long string of internal audits and prosecutions across the state that have led to resignations, firings, and criminal charges against deputies and officers in multiple counties.
- The Dallas Police Department asked the GBI to investigate the department’s Flock use on July 7, and the GBI says the probe into Taylor and related access remains active with a public tip line available.
- Flock Safety announced immediate and planned technical changes to reduce default data retention from 30 days to 7 days, introduce an ‘Evidence Mode’ to preserve select records for investigations, and add filters to limit what external partners can search.
- The revelations have prompted proactive agency audits, contract and evidence reviews, privacy concerns among residents, and some reported damage to cameras, which together could drive tighter local rules and oversight of ALPR systems.