Habersham County deputy fired, arrested after Flock license plate reader audit

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A Habersham County deputy was fired and arrested after he allegedly used the department’s Flock license plate reader system for reasons unrelated to his job.

Christian Brewer was charged with one count of felony violation of oath of office and two counts of misdemeanor misuse of license plate data. The deputy’s office said his searches were related to someone he was in a “personal relationship” with.

Brewer had been with the sheriff’s office since May 2024.

“The people of Habersham County trust us with authority and access to sensitive information. This trust is earned every day and can be lost in a single decision. Any misuse of our authority or the tools provided to your deputies is a betrayal of that trust,” Sheriff Robin Krockum said in a statement. “Although this was an isolated incident, I will not tolerate misconduct.”

Brewer is far from the only north Georgia law enforcement officer to be disciplined for allegedly misusing the Flock camera system. In the past two months, three Fayetteville police officers, three Cherokee County deputies, one DeKalb County deputy, one Greene County deputy and one Conyers police supervisor have been arrested, fired or both.

MORE COVERAGE: AI audit tool flags suspicious police searches as Flock misuse cases mount in Georgia

The pattern is likely because of a new “audit assistance” tool launched by Flock Safety in April. The company told Atlanta News First Investigates that the tool uses artificial intelligence to flag searches that may be outside a department’s policy, sending questionable activity to supervisors for review.

While some call the Flock system an invasion of privacy, Krockum said it’s been used to find missing children and stolen cars.

“Flock continues to be a valuable tool for law enforcement that has been proven to save lives,” he said.