State Sen. John Albers, who represents Roswell and chairs the Georgia Senate Public Safety Committee, announced Tuesday that he is joining a new law enforcement task force. The group will examine whether the state needs legislation to curb documented police misuse of license plate reader cameras.

Albers made the announcement at a press conference at the state Capitol on Aug. 25, according to Rough Draft Atlanta. The task force was formed by the Georgia Association of Sheriffs and the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, and Albers said other lawmakers were also invited to participate.

"Like every citizen in our state, we're concerned about the abuses that have taken place," Albers said at the press conference. He added that public trust is paramount and called the cameras "an invaluable crime-fighting tool" even as he pushed for oversight.

The announcement follows a wave of criminal charges against Georgia law enforcement officers accused of misusing the camera systems. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has arrested at least 14 people in 2026 for violating a state law that restricts license plate reader use to official law enforcement purposes. As recently as the week of Aug. 18, three former Savannah officers and a fourth employee were charged with misuse of a plate reader system and violation of oath of office.

Georgia leads the nation in documented abuses. According to a Fulton Neighbor report citing an Institute for Justice database, 57 of 170 documented incidents nationwide occurred in Georgia, with cases involving stalking, misidentification and unjustified arrests.

Senate President Pro Tempore Larry Walker, a Perry Republican, sent a letter to state law enforcement groups citing "the rise in public concern." Walker wrote that allegations of improper use had "understandably heightened privacy and accountability concerns for our constituents," the Georgia Recorder reported.

Albers, a Roswell resident who has served in the state Senate since at least 2011, wrote in an op-ed published through the Georgia Senate Press Office that supporting law enforcement does not mean writing a blank check for government surveillance. He said he is working with state law enforcement leaders to identify ways to tighten the system and left open the possibility of pursuing a legislative fix in the 2027 session, though he said he was unsure whether any legislation would emerge.

In an editorial provided to The Center Square on Aug. 24, Albers wrote that public safety and privacy are complementary responsibilities of good government and that responsible oversight ensures neither must be sacrificed.

Atlanta-based Flock Safety, which told Atlanta News First in 2023 that its cameras were watching in at least 70 percent of Georgia's cities, announced new accountability measures in mid-August, including reducing its recommended default data retention period from 30 days to seven days. Christopher Bruce, deputy executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, said he remains skeptical those company-level measures will go far enough and called for laws requiring municipalities to be more transparent about how camera data is used.

No task force meeting date or hearing schedule has been announced. The next Georgia legislative session begins in 2027.