Dunwoody council approves negotiated Flock Safety master services agreement amid sustained public protest

Dunwoody City Council voted unanimously to approve a negotiated master services agreement (MSA) with Flock Safety after extended public comment raising concerns about third-party access to camera feeds and requests for independent audits.

The MSA, as presented by city legal and staff, freezes the vendor's then-current terms and privacy language and establishes city control points: order forms will fall under the MSA, the city manager becomes the primary approver for uses of city data, and significant changes to pricing or terms will require written mayor-and-council authorization. Mayor Dece told the council Flock will no longer use city sites as demonstration locations after the JCC incident was raised by residents.

Why it mattered: Dozens of residents, parents and privacy advocates used the meeting's public-comment period to describe what they said were audit and access failures in Flock's systems and to press the council to delay or cancel further contracts. Public commenters cited open-records findings showing vendor employee logins and alleged access to cameras at local recreational facilities; speakers called for independent cybersecurity reviews, limits on live vendor access, and public town-hall discussions.

What the MSA does and does not do: Legal counsel said the MSA creates "guardrails" and that some concerns must be addressed in separate internal policies. Jill, the city's legal representative, told the council the agreement will give the city the right to control the vendor's "toggle" features and to refuse new terms the vendor attempts to impose unilaterally. The mayor and staff also said the city is planning a set of internal governance policies and a third-party cybersecurity audit to run alongside the MSA.

Public voice and council response: Kayla Bthun, an IT audit and cybersecurity professional who lives in the city, urged a pause until the city and Flock could "answer the public's questions regarding Flock security and be able to obtain a more recent security audit." Jason Hunter, citing public-record logs he said show vendor access, asked bluntly: "Who is responsible for authorizing Flock sales employees to watch our kids directly through Dunwoody's Flock network?" Several other speakers described stalking and misuse cases elsewhere and warned of liability and misuse if access is not restricted and audited.

Council and staff said those concerns influenced contract language and post-approval steps. Council members explicitly requested that further deployments be subject to new city policies, that the city manager be the primary approver, and that the city commission an independent cybersecurity audit of vendor systems and the city's configuration and controls.

Votes at a glance: - Master Services Agreement with Flock Safety: motion to approve moved by Councilmember John, seconded by Councilmember Lenbucker; vote: unanimous (approved). - Flock OS 911 contract (real-time translation/dispatch integration), $15,000: approved subject to full execution of the MSA (unanimous). - Flock drone first-responder expansion and PCID partnership renewal: approved subject to full execution of the MSA (unanimous).

What happens next: Staff and the city manager will draft internal policies and oversight mechanisms (estimated 30—0 days for initial policy steps, per staff remarks), and the city expects to issue an independent cyber/IT audit that will examine vendor controls and the city's configuration. The MSA, as approved, includes requirements that future order forms and changes be governed by the MSA and requires mayor-and-council sign-off for material changes.

Why residents said it's still a concern: Several speakers told the council the MSA and post-approval promises are insufficient given documented patterns in other jurisdictions and urged the council to stop further rollouts and to require mandatory judicial warrants for routine police requests for camera footage.

Council members stressed the MSA was a reset and repeatedly framed the next 30—0 days as the time for staff to deliver the governance and audit steps the public demanded. The council then moved into an executive session on legal matters and adjourned.