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NOPE
Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Dallas, Georgia: a police department's 911 director is accused of using its Flock license-plate-reader system to track her estranged husband and his new partner almost daily from July 2024 to May 2025; the GBI arrested her in August 2026

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested the former 911 director of the Dallas Police Department in Paulding County, Georgia, on 12 August 2026 on two misdemeanor counts of misuse of a license plate reader system, after the department asked it on 7 July to investigate misuse of the department's Flock Safety system between 2024 and 2025. A USA TODAY analysis of Flock audit logs found that she had searched more than 2,500 times for the cars of her estranged husband and his new girlfriend, almost every day from July 2024 to May 2025 and as many as 39 times in one day. The couple told USA TODAY that in the months after the separation she repeatedly showed up unannounced at restaurants where they ate, at the hospital where the girlfriend works and at a rural Alabama property they visit. The girlfriend said she fears for her safety and, according to court records, filed a petition for a restraining order on 20 August citing the Flock searches. USA TODAY had contacted the department about the searches on 6 July. The charges are allegations.

AI system
Flock Safety license plate readers
Flock Safety
Occurred
Jul 2024 to May 2025
Reported
12 August 2026
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Made a claim about the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or AbusePsychological Distress
Whose AI use
An institution’s AI use
Setting
Privacy · Justice · Relationships
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts
5 claims: 5 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed
2 people

AI system as recorded: Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader system of the Dallas (Georgia) Police Department, searched by its 911 director (GBI release; USA TODAY analysis of Flock audit logs)

What Happened

On 7 July 2026 the Dallas Police Department in Paulding County, Georgia, asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate allegations of misuse of the department's Flock Safety system; preliminary information indicated that its 911 director had accessed the system between 2024 and 2025 for non-law enforcement purposes (GBI release, 12 August 2026). USA TODAY reports that it had contacted the department about her Flock activity on 6 July, as part of an analysis of more than 75 million Flock searches. According to that analysis, she used Flock to look up the license plates of her estranged husband and his new girlfriend almost every day from July 2024 to May 2025, as many as 39 times in one day and sometimes seconds apart, with more than half of the searches made between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m.; USA TODAY puts the total at more than 2,500 searches. A relay of 11Alive's report gives the GBI's figure as up to 1,200 accesses for non-law enforcement purposes, some involving her former spouse. The husband told USA TODAY that the couple separated around November 2024 after 27 years together and that he began dating his new partner soon after. The couple said that in the following months she repeatedly showed up unannounced at restaurants where they ate, at the hospital where the girlfriend works and at a rural Alabama property they regularly visit; the girlfriend said she thought the director wanted them to know she was there. The husband called the searches an invasion of privacy, and the couple said they do not want to be tracked wherever they go. The girlfriend said she fears for her safety, and court records show she petitioned for a restraining order on 20 August 2026, citing the Flock searches. The director, a 14-year department employee who is not a sworn officer, was arrested on 12 August on two misdemeanor counts of misuse of a license plate reader system and booked into the Paulding County Jail; she did not respond to USA TODAY.

Reported harm

According to USA TODAY's analysis of Flock audit logs, the couple's cars were searched more than 2,500 times over about ten months by the husband's estranged wife, a police 911 director; they say she repeatedly appeared where they were, and the girlfriend says she fears for her safety and has sought a restraining order. The director is charged with misuse of a license plate reader system.

Outcome

Pending

The GBI arrested the former 911 director on 12 August 2026 and charged her with two misdemeanor counts of misuse of a license plate reader system; she was booked into the Paulding County Jail, and the GBI said the case would go to the Paulding Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office for prosecution once its investigation was complete (GBI release). USA TODAY reported on 28 August that she had not been charged in court and no longer worked for the department. According to court records cited by USA TODAY, the girlfriend filed a petition for a restraining order against her on 20 August 2026, citing her frequent Flock searches. No court outcome is reported.

What remains unknown

  • The exact number of searches (USA TODAY: more than 2,500; the GBI via 11Alive: up to 1,200).
  • Whether the restraining order was granted.
  • Whether the director has been charged in court and any outcome.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The GBI says the director accessed the Dallas Police Department's Flock Safety system for non-law enforcement purposes, and USA TODAY's analysis of Flock audit logs found her repeated searches of the couple's license plates. USA TODAY describes the Flock system as photographing passing cars and uploading the plate number, make, model, color and other characteristics to an online database. The plate-read records about the couple's cars were the system's output; the searches are recorded as the director's own acts. The sources do not describe the readers as AI.

5 claims: 5 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported USA TODAY's analysis of Flock audit logs found that the director used Flock to look up the license plates of her estranged husband and his new girlfriend almost every day from July 2024 to May 2025, more than 2,500 times in all and as many as 39 times in one day, with more than half of the searches made between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m.

Causal attribution. USA TODAY's own analysis of audit logs. The GBI figure relayed from 11Alive (up to 1,200 accesses) differs; the GBI release itself gives no count. Not independently confirmed.

  • usatoday.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'searched more than 2,500 times for cars belonging to her estranged husband and his new girlfriend'; 'almost every day from July 2024 to May 2025'; 'as many as 39 times in one day, sometimes just seconds apart'; 'More than half her searches of those cars occurred between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m.'
  • yahoo.com(opens in new tab) context · English
    'had accessed the system up to 1,200 times for non-law enforcement purposes, with some searches allegedly involving her former spouse'
Reported The husband and his girlfriend told USA TODAY that in the months after the couple separated, the director repeatedly showed up unannounced at restaurants where they ate, at the hospital where the girlfriend works and at a rural Alabama property they regularly visit.

Causal attribution. The couple's own account to USA TODAY; the director did not respond. The link between the searches and the appearances is the couple's inference.

  • usatoday.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'repeatedly showed up unannounced at the restaurants where they ate'; 'even at the rural, 100-acre Alabama property they regularly visit'; 'I think she wanted us to know she was there.'
Reported The girlfriend said she fears for her safety and, according to court records, filed a petition for a restraining order against the director on 20 August 2026, citing her frequent Flock searches; the husband called the searches an invasion of privacy.

Causal attribution. The couple's statements and USA TODAY's reading of court records, which were not inspected.

  • usatoday.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'said she fears for her safety'; 'She filed a petition for a restraining order against'; 'on Aug. 20, court records show, citing her frequent Flock searches'; 'It’s an invasion of privacy'
Reported On 7 July 2026 the Dallas Police Department asked the GBI to investigate allegations of misuse of its Flock Safety system; preliminary information indicated that the 911 director had accessed the system between 2024 and 2025 for non-law enforcement purposes. The GBI arrested her on 12 August 2026 on two misdemeanor counts of misuse of a license plate reader system and booked her into the Paulding County Jail.

Causal attribution. The GBI's release; USA TODAY reports the same arrest and charges. Charges are allegations.

  • gbi.georgia.gov(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'requested the GBI to investigate allegations of misuse of the Dallas Police Department Flock Safety System'; 'accessed the Flock Safety System between 2024 and 2025 for non-law enforcement purposes'; 'with two misdemeanor counts of Misuse of a License Plate Reader System'; 'was booked into the Paulding County Jail'
  • usatoday.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'on two misdemeanor counts of misusing a license plate reader'
Reported USA TODAY contacted the Dallas Police Department about the director's Flock activity on 6 July 2026, and the department asked the GBI to investigate her the next day.

Causal attribution. USA TODAY's account of its own inquiry; the GBI release gives the 7 July request date.

Sources

3 sources inspected, from 2 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-10-04 from the eu.usatoday.com edition of the same article (the www host answered 402). USA TODAY's own analysis of Flock audit logs, interviews with the husband and his girlfriend, court records and the director's personnel file. Applies to s1.

Read in English on 2026-10-04 (live). The GBI's arrest release; it names the charges and the department's request but not the people searched. Applies to s2.

Read in English on 2026-10-04 (live; Mandatory on Yahoo News, 17 August 2026). Relays 11Alive's report of the GBI's account (11Alive answered 403 and was not read). The page's automated key-takeaways box was not used. Applies to s3.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: United States.

The director worked for the Dallas Police Department in Paulding County, Georgia, whose Flock system she searched; the GBI arrested her and booked her into the Paulding County Jail (GBI release). The couple's residence is not stated; affected_person_countries US rests on their cars being searched in the Georgia department's system and on the places named in USA TODAY (restaurants, a hospital and an Alabama property). The case is in Georgia.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-04: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional privacy and safety case, consistent with the held Flock officer-misuse rows: the GBI arrested a police 911 director for misusing the department's Flock license-plate-reader system, and USA TODAY's analysis and interviews describe the two people whose cars she searched and the effects they report. The automated readers generated the plate-read records; the misuse is recorded as a human act. The director and the couple are not named here.

People described

Two adults: the 911 director's estranged husband and his new girlfriend (not named here)

People reported harmed in this case

2 people

0 AI participants · 2 other people harmed

Two people, the director's estranged husband and his new girlfriend, whose cars USA TODAY's analysis found she searched and who described the effects to USA TODAY. Exact 2.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#flock#alpr#license-plate-reader#police-misuse#estranged-spouse#georgia#dallas-georgia#paulding-county#gbi#usa-today-investigation#restraining-order

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Dallas, Georgia: a police department's 911 director is accused of using its Flock license-plate-reader system to track her estranged husband and his new partner almost daily from July 2024 to May 2025; the GBI arrested her in August 2026. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2024-dallas-georgia-police-911-director-flock-alpr-searches-estranged-husband-and-partner-arrested

BibTeX

@misc{2024_dallas_georgia_police_911_director_flock_alpr_searches_estranged_husband_and_partner_arrested,
  title = {Dallas, Georgia: a police department's 911 director is accused of using its Flock license-plate-reader system to track her estranged husband and his new partner almost daily from July 2024 to May 2025; the GBI arrested her in August 2026},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2024-dallas-georgia-police-911-director-flock-alpr-searches-estranged-husband-and-partner-arrested}
}

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