Dougherty County police expect to present report on surveillance cameras within two weeks

ALBANY – Those who have the feeling that somebody’s always watching me may be onto something. License plate readers and surveillance cameras are part of life these days, and Albany and Dougherty County are no exception.

Those cameras are important tools in solving crimes, according to the Dougherty County Police Department, which operates 18 Flock Safety System license plate readers and nine Condor cameras that can take still photos as well as record video.

After reports began appearing about the misuse of those devices, the department started conducting monthly reviews of the system, Dougherty County Police Chief Kenneth Johnson told Dougherty County Commission members on Monday. The monthly reviews went back to January of this year.

In July, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested five former Albany Police Department officers who were accused of misusing the Flock camera system for personal purposes that were not related to their law enforcement duties.

The city of Albany also operates Flock cameras as well as a gunshot-detection system that covers part of the city. The city and county departments share data recorded by their two systems.

The county department’s auditing predates the Albany officers’ arrests, and a policy on camera use was initiated in June, county police Lt. J.C. Phillips said. 

“Chief Johnson had that done right away,” Phillips, who is one of two officers with the department who helps monitor the use of the devices, said.

At the department, only 10 investigative officers are authorized to access data recorded by the devices, he said. The auditing program was initiated in August.

The department is preparing a report on its findings, but so far there has been no indication of any county officers misusing the devices, Johnson told commissioners.

“Because all of this (cases of misuse) came about, that’s when everybody put a policy in place,” Johnson said. 

The department plans to present its report to the commission when it is completed, probably within the next two weeks, the chief said. 

Since the department started using the cameras in 2024, they have assisted it in solving a number of crimes, Johnson said. Those include murder, aggravated assaults, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts.

“The Flock program provides the department with an investigative capability,” he said. “It saves time. Those capabilities can be particularly valuable in responding to crime in identifying vehicles, recovering vehicles.”

The chief said he cannot guarantee that an employee will never misuse a camera but said that the department will do everything it can to be accountable, identify potential misuse through oversight and provide transparency.

Communication with the public about the camera system and how it is used is a key, the chief said. 

Media across the country have reported about individuals intentionally damaging the systems, and the county has not been an exception. Two of its Flock devices have been damaged, Johnson said, and he was also informed that two in Mitchell County also were vandalized.

“I think it’s a great tool,” Commissioner Gloria Gaines said of the cameras. “Do we need more?”

The cameras also could be a way to deter crime if people are aware that they could be collecting information that could be used to apprehend criminals, she said.

“If people are told we are watching you, that we have these cameras countywide … it would be better to prevent the crime than to arrest them afterward,” Gaines said.

The cameras can provide an additional level of safety, Commissioner Anthony Jones said.

“We need to do anything we can to provide a quality of life for the people of Dougherty County to keep them safe,” the commissioner said.