Tyler Murkerson, a small-business owner in Georgia, has filed a lawsuit against Flock and the Coweta County Sheriff's Office, alleging that license plate tracking technology was used to retaliate against him. Murkerson's legal team, Hall & Lampros, stated in a press release that the suit claims the department conducted illegal license plate searches over several months without probable cause and unrelated to specific investigations.
The attorneys further alleged that Flock failed to implement safeguards to prevent such surveillance. Specifically, the complaint notes that the company accepted free-text-field entries from officers rather than requiring specific case numbers or investigation identifiers. This technical gap, according to the lawsuit, allowed for tracking that did not tie back to authorized law enforcement activity.
The dispute stems from events beginning in February 2023, when sheriff's deputies arrested Murkerson for an alleged seatbelt violation. Those charges were dropped months later. In September 2024, Murkerson filed a separate suit against the department for excessive force, a case that was recently settled. The current litigation focuses on the alleged misuse of Flock's automated license plate reader data during this period.