Milton police called Flock's approval rule new. It was in Flock's policy by April 2025.

Milton's police department keeps the photos and data from its 36 Flock license plate cameras for 365 days, up from 30. Flock Safety makes the cameras and stores the data they capture. The department says the longer period helps investigators whose leads surface late. When we asked who approved it, the department wrote on Sept. 18 that the change came in October 2025, at the start of the city's budget year, "as part of an upgrade authorized by the Chief and the City Manager." Then it added:

"This was before Flock's new August 13, 2026 guidance calling for elected-official or governing-body approval of longer periods."

That requirement was not new in August 2026. It was already in a public policy on Flock's website more than a year earlier.

A version of Flock's evidence policy posted in April 2025 set a standard of 30 days and said what happens when a customer wants more: "If a customer wishes to impose a longer retention period that is not already required by its jurisdiction's laws, Flock will offer an extended retention for up to one year, but shall require the agency to first obtain approval from an elected official and/or a governing body. This allows the decision to be made transparently and with the support of the community." Retention means how long the data is kept; a governing body is, for example, a city council.

The Internet Archive saved that version on April 8, 2025, about six months before Milton's change. The file is still posted on Flock's site, unchanged. See the April 2025 copy; the requirement is on page 6.

Flock's current policy, updated Aug. 12, 2026, cuts the default to seven days and keeps the approval requirement word for word.

The April 2025 version also gave examples of who counts as an elected official, including "state and local elected officials, elected sheriffs," and said elected bodies include city governments. Milton's police chief and city manager are appointed. The department hasn't said whether any elected official also signed off.

The requirement is Flock's company policy, not a law. Georgia law allows plate data to be kept up to 30 months, so a year is legal. The policy also puts a duty on Flock: it says Flock "shall require" the approval. We asked Flock whether it did.

When Flock announced new safeguards on Aug. 13, 2026, it cut its default to seven days and said: "Existing customers will keep their current, democratically approved retention periods."

A correction of our own

Our Sept. 20 issue repeated the department's timeline, saying Flock called for elected officials to sign off on longer periods in August and that Milton's year predated that guidance. The requirement was in Flock's policy by April 2025. Tuesday's issue carries the correction.

The department's side

The department says the year of storage comes from investigative experience: relevant vehicle information "may not emerge within seven or 30 days," particularly while investigators wait on phone records or other evidence obtained through legal process, and "in several cases, historical LPR records have helped corroborate evidence received later." LPR means license plate reader. It says the data is "one investigative tool alongside other evidence," not proof on its own, and that it will evaluate Flock's coming Evidence Mode to see whether records needed for active cases can be kept under a shorter general period.

Flock announced Evidence Mode on Aug. 13, saying it lets detectives preserve specific plate records for an active investigation, and that "customers who adopt the 7-day recommendation will receive Evidence Mode at no cost." It said the feature would roll out "in the coming weeks." Flock also says it will require case codes on all law enforcement searches, and its audit tool for every police customer, by the end of the year. Milton already uses that audit tool, the department told us Sept. 11.

It also said the change "appears in our published budget book." That book, for the budget year that began Oct. 1, 2025, mentions it in one line: "Expansion of stationary LPR program to enhance city wide coverage to include upgraded software to extend retention of data." The line does not say for how long. The department said it "can't recall if it was specifically discussed during a Council meeting," and that the city "will seek further guidance" on a path forward.

What we don't know yet

We don't know whether any elected official approved the one-year setting, or whether Flock asked Milton for that approval before switching it on. We asked Flock on Monday afternoon, with a 9 p.m. deadline; it had not answered by then, and we will add its answer when it comes. Our written questions of Sept. 26, which we asked the department to answer by Friday, Oct. 2, ask whether the mayor or any councilmember was told before the change took effect.

Why it matters now

Nearby Alpharetta and Johns Creek keep their plate data 30 days, according to their own public Flock pages; Roswell's page does not list a period. And the rules may change for everyone. The Republican and Democratic nominees for governor both told the AJC this month that they support new safeguards on plate readers, and legislative leaders of both parties are pledging action in the 2027 session. The ideas under discussion include shorter storage periods, more regular audits, tighter limits on access and tougher penalties for misuse.