Metro Atlanta Residents Push Back Against Mass Surveillance

Residents throughout metro Atlanta are elevating considerations about increasing mass surveillance, warning that the rising program is leaving communities uneasy.

On April 13, the Dunwoody Metropolis Council authorised a contract with Atlanta-based surveillance tech firm Flock Security. In the meantime, in DeKalb County, the increasing community tied to the Atlanta Public Security Coaching Middle is fueling considerations amongst residents who say the elevated surveillance makes them really feel watched somewhat than protected, Capital B Information studies.

It “actually seems like an invasion of privateness,” mentioned DeKalb resident Brian Web page.

Web page’s considerations in regards to the Atlanta Public Security Coaching Middle—typically referred to as “Cop Metropolis”—replicate a broader problem. Constructed on 85 acres of certainly one of Atlanta’s final city forests, the positioning is now a part of an enormous surveillance community of greater than 60,000 cameras linked to regulation enforcement throughout the metro space.

For a lot of Black residents, the challenge changed a significant inexperienced house with a closely monitored facility, that raised considerations about environmental impacts, public well being, and elevated digital surveillance of their communities.

In the meantime, in Dunwoody, Jason Hunyar and his pregnant spouse have been outspoken at metropolis council conferences, elevating considerations about Flock Security. Regardless of resident pushback, officers authorised the contract. In an announcement, a Flock spokesperson disputed Hunyar’s claims, saying Dunwoody served as an indication accomplice and had approved choose workers to check new merchandise and options.

“It’s baffling to me. Lower than per week after we discover out that Flock workers are watching kids at a pool, they resolve to proceed to do enterprise,” mentioned Hunyar, who was outraged after studying Flock executives had been logged into cameras at Dunwoody’s Marcus Jewish Neighborhood Middle.

Coaching on the Atlanta Public Security Coaching Middle options mock metropolis blocks geared up with cameras, license-plate readers, and real-time monitoring methods, permitting officers to observe AI-driven monitoring and crowd management. A 2025 evaluation discovered Atlanta has roughly 124 cameras per 1,000 residents—among the many highest charges globally—with methods able to flagging “suspicious” exercise even with out a reported crime.

Civil liberties advocates warn these techniques are already getting used domestically and will unfold to departments nationwide. A Harvard College research throughout 10 cities discovered surveillance cameras are most concentrated in gentrifying neighborhoods, rising as white residents transfer in, even after accounting for crime and earnings.

Atlanta ranks among the many U.S. cities with probably the most Black neighborhoods gentrified since 1980. As property values rise, policing typically intensifies; one evaluation discovered arrests enhance alongside even modest beneficial properties in dwelling values. Collectively, the info recommend redevelopment in Black communities is incessantly paired with expanded surveillance and enforcement.

All of the whereas, considerations about Flock Security are spreading throughout metro Atlanta, as its instruments—from license plate readers to surveillance cameras and gunshot detection—develop nationwide. In Marietta, a Cobb County assembly drew pushback from a product supervisor over native contracts with the corporate. At Emory College, a coalition of scholars, school, and employees submitted a petition with over 1,000 signatures calling to take away license plate readers, finish the varsity’s contract, and launch a clear evaluation of campus surveillance.

As Georgia-based surveillance corporations develop nationwide and cities push again over ties to immigration enforcement and protest policing, the controversy in Atlanta is taking over nationwide significance. Residents in Atlanta are becoming a member of a rising nationwide motion pushing again on surveillance expertise—a decentralized, cross-partisan effort that has led to not less than 50 canceled or rejected contracts, or the removing of Flock cameras, over the previous 12 months, in keeping with DeFlock.

Hunyar mentioned his considerations middle on “safety, auditability, and transparency,” arguing that these requirements are important in any system of mass surveillance. For Atlanta neighborhood organizer Kamau Franklin, the event is unwelcome however unsurprising, saying it aligns with the broader trajectory of gentrification in Atlanta.

“The surveillance system, the environmental points, and the gentrification of Atlanta go hand in hand,” Franklin mentioned. “The main focus and cash poured into specialised police models and cameras feels far outstripped by something invested in housing, inexperienced house, or jobs.”

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