SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2026 · Issue No. 57 · 16 min read
Milton keeps your license plate data for a year. It used to be 30 days.
Two misuse investigations, 36 cameras, a map of every one, and Wednesday's kerfuffle with all three sides in writing.
A Milton resident who has sold more than $80 million in homes. Amber has guided buyers and sellers through more than $80 million in sales since 2018, pairing nearly two decades in corporate talent acquisition with relationship-first real estate. Bolst North Atlanta, top 2% nationally, and a repeat Atlanta Home Magazine All-Star.
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In this issue The city’s answers. A year of your plate data, not 30 days, and two of its own searches under investigation. The map. Every license plate camera in Milton, pinned. The stop. Both clocks, and the video. Wednesday at Council. All three sides, in writing. And. Restaurant Week starts tomorrow, Friday’s scores, and a 9/11 story that ends on a horse farm. |
Top of Mind
the one thing to know this morning
One lens, one solar panel, one pole. This is what a Flock license plate camera looks like; Milton runs 36 of them, the city says, and the map below has 55 inside the city line.
A year. That is how long Milton keeps the record of where your car has been. It used to be 30 days.
The police department told us so on Friday, in writing and on the record, along with thirteen other answers to the questions we sent Thursday morning. Thursday we told you we had asked. Here is what came back, and some of it the city had never said out loud.
The year. The department extended retention from 30 days to 365 “as part of a program upgrade to support investigations in which a lead may not emerge immediately.” Georgia law allows up to 30 months. Flock Safety, the vendor, went the other direction on August 13 and cut its default for new customers to seven days. Milton is inside the law and well past the vendor.
Two of the department’s own searches are under investigation. The department reviewed its search activity and “identified two matters that warranted further investigation as potential misuse. Both matters remain under investigation.” It had not announced them. It disclosed them in answer to our questions. Mayor Peyton Jamison said he could not comment on personnel investigations. His written statement, sent Saturday, does not mention them either; it is in the Roundtable below with the others.
Thirty-six cameras. Thirty-three on poles and three that move, the city says, plus license plate reading on 39 marked patrol cars. Then there are the 15 private cameras, at neighborhood gates and shopping centers, that police can search and whose owners cannot search back.
Who can look. Milton-certified officers and designated crime-intelligence staff, each on an individual account. “Not every search receives advance approval or individual supervisory review. All searches are logged.” Flock’s audit tool flags searches for a three-member department review team, and Milton is in Flock’s data-sharing program, so “authorized law enforcement agencies outside Georgia can access Milton-collected data depending on the City’s sharing settings.” Still true from 2022: nobody watches the cameras live, they take still pictures rather than video, and they are not used for moving violations.
Where they are. On Wednesday a resident asked Council to tell the public how many cameras there are and where. The city has now said how many. We drew the where.
Gold dots are inside Milton, hollow dots just outside the line: every camera pinned on the DeFlock map, from OpenStreetMap on September 12. That is 55 inside the line against the city’s 33 fixed units; the difference is homeowner associations, businesses and a school district that bought the same cameras, and the map cannot say who owns which pin. The mobile units and the patrol cars are not on it. One camera for every 750 residents, on the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. Tap any dot for what was recorded about it.
Two questions the answers walked around, and on Saturday morning we put both back to the department along with four more: when 30 days became a year, and who said yes. We also asked whether Milton will publish the vendor’s transparency page, which several Georgia departments do and Milton does not.
Sources: the Milton Police Department’s written answers to The Roundabout, September 11; Flock Safety, August 13; our map and its method.
The Stop, Both Clocks
The department’s version. Thursday we told you a Flock contractor called 911 on Atlanta News First’s Brendan Keefe on August 19 and three Milton units came. Friday the department gave its side. The call came in to Forsyth County 911 and was handed to Alpharetta as the two vehicles crossed into Milton. Dispatch logged it as a civil dispute on the roadway, “a call type commonly described by the Department as a road-rage incident.” The officers did not know they were stopping a journalist. By the department’s clock, the officer handed back Keefe’s license at about ten minutes and everything after that was “a voluntary conversation in which the driver continued to ask questions and engage.” By Keefe’s clock he was free to go at about seventeen. Both clocks can be right; they are timing different things. The department reviewed the stop and found its officers “professional.” No citation.
What the video shows. We pulled the department’s body-camera recording on Saturday, 18 minutes of it, 3:05 to 3:23 p.m. A card goes back through the window at 3:16, ten and a half minutes after the stop began; the department says that was the license. The talking at the window runs until about 3:22, when the officer walks back to her car. Both clocks are in it.
One Town Over
A former Alpharetta police officer was booked into the Fulton County Jail on August 27 and charged the next day under Georgia’s license plate data law, according to Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and State Court records. Dustin Bozzo resigned August 5 after an internal investigation found he had searched the vehicles of two fellow employees 85 times, WIRED reported on August 27. He was released on a $125,000 signature bond. The charge, a misdemeanor under O.C.G.A. 35-1-22, had not been reported anywhere until now. We have asked the Fulton County Solicitor-General, Mr. Bozzo’s attorney and the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety for comment.
He has company: since July, officers, deputies or agency staff in Savannah, Richmond County, Clayton County, Hall County, Gwinnett County, Peachtree City, Braselton and Sandy Springs have been arrested, charged, fired or have resigned over plate-camera searches, most of them caught by their own department’s search logs.
Sources: Fulton County State Court case 26CR005954G and Sheriff’s Office booking records; O.C.G.A. § 35-1-22; the linked reports.
The Roundtable
First, Wednesday, for anyone who missed Thursday. Lindsay DeFranco used her five minutes at public comment to walk Council through the city’s own paperwork on its cameras, pulled by records request: a first camera at Bell Memorial Park in 2019, nine more added on a 2022 consent agenda, “at least 27” by the end of last year, more than $227,000 paid to the vendor, and her conclusion that “the system tripled in size with no public approval.” She asked how many there are now, and where. About an hour and a half later, under council reports, Councilmember Carol Cookerly took four minutes from the dais to answer: the comment was “riddled with highly inaccurate information,” she was “very offended,” the cameras are “spectacular at solving crimes,” and anyone running for office who goes “down this path” is “absolutely irresponsible.” She closed with “I rest my case. Do with it what you will.” DeFranco says she had already left the room. That is the kerfuffle. Both parties have now put it in writing, and so has the Mayor. We print all three as written, and the record does the rest.
The councilmember. Carol Cookerly sent us 1,095 words on Friday night. They do not say what the cameras record or how long the data is kept, which is what we asked. They do say, at length and with conviction, why she believes the cameras are worth having, and they name the one thing in the public comment she calls wrong: the Atlanta numbers. Also on the record, from the state’s campaign finance filings: Cookerly gave $500 to Jack Miller’s campaign on April 23. Miller is DeFranco’s opponent in November. Three passages here; the whole statement is on our site, every word hers.
“What fueled the focus on LPRs are accurate media reports that some officers around the country were using cameras for personal information. So far, most of that illicit use has involved tracking romantic partners. The misuse in any police department appears to involve a small percentage of officers, and the camera company now has different access criteria to prevent personal use. When you stack up that misuse against the lives saved, crimes solved, and property recovered, to me there is no debate about the upside of camera usage.”
“Atlanta has over 2,000 LPRs of which the Flock brand comprises 529 of them. There are over 28,000 regular cameras owned by many entities integrated into its police command center. There are also 18,000 other cameras people have voluntarily registered that the police can access with permission. … There is no basis for the ‘Atlanta is the most surveilled city in the U.S.’ claim.”
“But blame the criminals not the technology. And empower us to continually buy the very best crime fighting tools.”
The resident. Lindsay DeFranco is the Democratic candidate for the state House in District 47; Miller is the Republican nominee. On Friday she posted a 14-minute video of the exchange, both sets of remarks in full, with her rebuttal running over the top of Cookerly’s. By Saturday night YouTube’s counter had it past 60,000 views, which for a Milton council meeting is a stadium. We offered her the same terms as the councilmember, and on Saturday afternoon she sent this: “After my five minutes were over, an elected official used her position on the dais to attack my credibility, motives, and character when I was no longer in the room to respond. Residents should not be put on the defensive for asking their government for transparency. The elected officials overseeing these programs should be answering the questions.” Her full response is on our site, as written.
The Mayor. Peyton Jamison, asked Thursday for the city’s position, sent his on Saturday afternoon. It takes no side on Wednesday and does not mention the two investigations. “Public safety is our top priority, and Flock cameras are one [of] many tools for keeping this community safe,” it begins. “I’ve also heard from residents with questions about how their data is shared, and I understand those concerns. Protecting that information is a shared responsibility, one the city takes seriously alongside our contracted vendors.” The whole statement is on our site.
The rule on the books. Milton’s own decorum rule for council members, Sec. 2-56, says “personal remarks are inappropriate and may be ruled out of order” and hands enforcement to the Mayor. Cookerly’s remarks came under Mayor and council reports. No one raised a point of order, and the city has not yet answered our Thursday question about how it handles a council member answering a resident from the dais.
The Atlanta numbers, checked. DeFranco’s 60,000 cameras and “most surveilled city” is a 2025 estimate by the research firm Comparitech, reported by the AJC in August: 60,864 public and private cameras, about 124 for every 1,000 residents, the highest rate in the study. Cookerly’s figures describe cameras wired into the Atlanta Police Department’s Video Integration Center and its registration program, and the city has not published a current total to check her 28,000 against. They are counting different things, both can be right, and neither one is Milton.
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A Note from the Publisher Nobody moved to Milton for the cameras. We came for the fences and the Friday lights, for the Publix line where you know three people, for a town that still waves and feels looked after. The cameras are part of how it is looked after now, which is why the questions about them belong to all of us, asked in the open and answered in writing. That is the whole job here: find out what is true about the place you love, print it, put the meetings and the markets and the scores in front of you, and keep the town talking to itself. This week it did. Ryan Hall |
Corrections
Three this week, which is a record, and not one we wanted.
Thursday’s issue said the Council met Tuesday. It met Wednesday, September 9, the holiday week’s schedule. Everything we reported from it happened on Wednesday.
The same issue said Brendan Keefe was in a marked press van when Milton police stopped him. He was not. Milton police say he was driving a silver, unmarked SUV; Atlanta News First’s own account says he had a press placard on the dashboard and wore a station hat and a high-visibility vest.
We also said the seven new Development Authority directors were sworn in on the spot. Roger Lusby was traveling, the Mayor said, and will be sworn in later. The others took the oath Wednesday.
Every correction we have run is on our corrections page.
Council Watch
what the city decided, and what it is about to
Public comment had a second act Wednesday. Four residents came to the podium to oppose Restoration Church’s plan to move to New Providence Road, and one of them said the church has told people a use permit application is four to six weeks out.
The church bought 30 acres at New Providence and Arnold Mill for a new campus. Sarah Moen told Council that at a congregational meeting on August 30, church leadership laid out a building of more than 100,000 square feet with a 1,250-seat auditorium, plans “70 to 75 percent complete,” and an intention to sell the remaining 10 acres on Arnold Mill for commercial use once the city approves the church. Kurt Nolte, who used to sit on the Planning Commission, said the land is zoned AG-1, which means the church needs a use permit, and that Arnold Mill Road already carries 23,000 trips a day. Geoff Nash, who lives about 400 feet from the site, asked Council to keep the Arnold Mill small area plan it adopted this year. Laurie Stone put it in one line: “This is not a church issue. This is a land use issue.”
See the land. The two parcels, outlined in gold on the real 3D of Milton, are the first flight of The Roundabout Drone. Press Fly, 43 seconds, then take the controls. It wants a laptop more than a phone.
Those are the residents’ accounts of the church’s plans, not the church’s. We wrote to the church on August 10 and again on September 10; no reply. We have also asked Traton Homes, which holds a recorded right of first offer on the land, what it intends. No application had been filed as of Wednesday’s meeting, the speakers said, and the church has told its congregation one is four to six weeks out. If it lands on that schedule, October will not be quiet.
Source: our transcript of the September 9 meeting, public comment from 0:16 to 0:28; Fulton County deed records.
Restaurant Week Starts Tomorrow
Tomorrow. Fourteen restaurants, twelve set menus, $25 to $75, and one week to use them. Our guide prices every menu against the same kitchen’s regular one, because a prix fixe is only a deal if it costs less than ordering the same food on a Tuesday.
Two updates from the city on Thursday: Smash Burgers by Vice is sitting this year out, and Nahm Fine Thai Cuisine is in but has not posted a menu. The day it lands, it is in the guide.
The Scoreboard
every game, both schools, the night it finishes
Friday. Milton went to Franklin, Tennessee, and beat Battle Ground Academy 42-21. Cambridge held off Denmark at home, 18-13.
Milton volleyball is 19-3 and on this week’s USA Today/AVCA regional rankings, which is not a list you get on by accident.
And a name to know before everyone knows it: Milton sophomore offensive tackle Landon Ghea is Rivals’ No. 1 sophomore tackle in the country, and Georgia had him on the visitors list this weekend.
Every game, both schools, the night it finishes: our sports page.
One More Thing
A 9/11 story that ends on a Milton horse farm. Kayla Bergeron was the Port Authority’s director of public affairs, 68 floors up in the North Tower, when the first plane hit. She got out by the stairs; 73 of her colleagues did not. Twenty-five years on, she spends her weekends at Special Equestrians of Georgia, the therapeutic riding farm in Milton run by Stacey Edwards, caring for rescue horses as part of her own recovery.
Atlanta News First’s Rick Folbaum covered the attacks from the streets of New York that morning. On Friday he brought his 13-year-old son to the farm to meet her. “If you can see the light, follow the light,” she says of the stairwell. “And that’s how we got out.” The whole piece is worth your Sunday.
The Agenda
public meetings this week and next
Every meeting below is at City Hall and open to the public. The budget adoption and the millage vote are both a week from Monday, September 21, the last scheduled chance to say anything about next year’s budget before it is law.
- →Mon, Sep 14 · 6:00 PM: City Council Work Session
- →Tue, Sep 15 · 6:00 PM: Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA)
- →Wed, Sep 16 · 4:30 PM: Greenprint Steering Committee
- →Wed, Sep 16 · 6:30 PM: Milton Equestrian Committee
- →Thu, Sep 17 · 12:00 PM: Parks and Recreation Advisory Board
- →Mon, Sep 21 · 6:00 PM: City Council Regular Meeting, budget adoption and millage rate
Further out, for the young entrepreneurs. Kids Market, where the vendors are children and the inventory is whatever they made, comes back to Milton twice: Saturday, October 3, on the Green at Crabapple Market, 10 to 5, already sold out for sellers, and Saturday, December 5, at Christmas in Crabapple, 2 to 6 at Broadwell Pavilion. Registration for December is open now, one six-foot table per kid and no canopies, and it closes December 4 at 8 p.m. or when the tables run out, which October suggests will come first. Details and registration.
This Week in Milton
the calendar, day by day
Monday, September 14
- →Milton Restaurant Week begins · Participating restaurants across Milton · prix-fixe menus at promotional prices
- →2:00 PM · Monday Mah Jong: Drop in and Play · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →5:30 PM · Monday Math Tutoring · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →6:00 PM · Monday Math Tutoring · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →6:30 PM · Short Stories Book Club - A Place Like Home by Rosamunde Pilcher · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →7:00 PM · Volunteer Orientation · Milton Branch Library (free)
Tuesday, September 15
- →1:00 PM · Friends of the Milton Library Tuesday Afternoon Book Sale · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →4:30 PM · YA Poetry Club w/ TAB · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →5:00 PM · RPG Alliance: Marvel Multiverse (Learn to Play) · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →6:30 PM · History Book Discussion: A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan · Milton Branch Library (free)
Wednesday, September 16
- →10:00 AM · The Writer Support Network · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →10:30 AM · Pre-K Art Class w/ Ms. Lara · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →12:00 PM · Novel Notions Book Club - "The Wife Upstairs" by Rachel Hawkins · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →4:30 PM · RPG Alliance: Dungeons and Dragons · Milton Branch Library (free)
Thursday, September 17
- →10:30 AM · Stories for Shorties · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →11:00 AM · Community Crochet Circle · Milton Branch Library (free)
Friday, September 18
- →10:00 AM · Rug Hookers and other Fabric Artist Meet Up · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →4:30 PM · Oktoberfest at Six Bridges · Six Bridges Crabapple (free)
Saturday, September 19
- →10:00 AM · LEARN HOW TO PLAY MAH JONG · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →10:00 AM · Composting with Fulton County Public Works · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →2:00 PM · Milton Astronomy Club · Milton Branch Library (free)
- →6:00 PM · Live Music with John Cox at Six Bridges · Six Bridges Crabapple (free)
- →8:30 PM · Shakerag at Matilda's · Matilda's Music Under the Pines · Ticketed; see the venue. Bring your own food and drinks.
Sunday, September 20
- →Milton Restaurant Week, final day · Participating restaurants across Milton · prix-fixe menus at promotional prices
See the full Milton calendar → · Got an event? Submit it
Also going on in Milton: AR Workshop Adult/Teen Classes, AR Workshop Youth Classes, Adult Pétanque and Adult Soccer (free). Plus 27 more on the activities page.
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