Alpharetta's Flock Safety cameras feed license plate data to more than 2,000 agencies across the country, a WIRED investigation published Friday, Aug. 28, found.

The city of roughly 67,000 residents and 120 police officers also receives Flock data from more than 1,300 entities. Since June 2025, the number of agencies receiving Alpharetta's data has grown about 42 percent. The number sending data to the department has jumped about 125 percent, according to WIRED's review of public records.

Lt. Jason Hiott told WIRED the department will "automatically approve" data requests from law enforcement within 500 miles. He could not say when that radius was set or whether it was the original default. He added that the department does not share live feeds or analytics with outside agencies.

The network stretches well beyond neighboring police departments. WIRED reported that Alpharetta exchanges data with Morehouse College, Florida's Fish and Wildlife Commission, Medicare fraud investigators in Illinois, a drug task force in east-central Missouri and the inspector general of a federal agency.

As we reported Friday, Aug. 28, an Alpharetta officer resigned Aug. 5 after an internal investigation found improper searches of the Flock system. Police Chief Trent Lindgren activated Flock's Audit Assistance tool in July, and by July 20 the department had opened the investigation, according to WIRED.

A companion WIRED article published Thursday, Aug. 27, reported that the officer used the system to track a fellow officer after a relationship ended.

Alpharetta is not alone in facing misuse. The Institute for Justice has cataloged 170 incidents of automated license plate reader (ALPR) abuse nationwide, with 57 in Georgia, the highest of any state.

The revelations have drawn attention at the state Capitol. Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, who chairs the Georgia Senate Public Safety Committee, announced Tuesday, Aug. 25, that he had joined a task force formed by the Georgia Association of Sheriffs and the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police to explore potential legislation on Flock misuse.

"Like every citizen in our state, we're concerned about the abuses that have taken place," Albers told Rough Draft Atlanta on Tuesday, Aug. 25.

Flock Safety announced Aug. 13 that it would recommend a seven-day data retention period, down from 30 days, require criminal case codes for each search and mandate that all customers activate its Audit Assistance tool by year's end, according to WIRED.

Flock spokesperson Jess Montejano told WIRED that data sharing is turned off by default for new customers but did not say whether that has always been the case.

Neither the Alpharetta City Government nor the Alpharetta Police Department has publicly addressed the WIRED investigation or announced any policy review in response.