2,044 events on record Subscribe September 10, 2026
Standing Record home The Standing Record A non-partisan record of US democratic norms —
and the events that erode them.

Braselton, Ga. police chief misused Flock camera network roughly 600 times to stalk ex-girlfriend; charged with stalking

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation charged then-Braselton Police Chief Michael Steffman on November 19, 2025, with stalking, harassing communications, violation of oath of office, and multiple counts of misusing automated license-plate-reader data, hours after he announced his resignation. The GBI found Steffman had used the Flock camera network to run roughly 600 unauthorized searches on his ex-girlfriend's and her daughter's license plates between July 2024 and August 2025, tracking her movements and texting her about them. Steffman was found dead at his home in April 2026, before the case reached trial.

Part of: Police Using License-Plate Camera Networks to Stalk

Jurisdiction
Georgia
Location
Braselton, Georgia

Abuses documented

Actors

  • Michael Steffman (Police Chief, Braselton Police Department)

On November 19, 2025, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation charged then-Braselton, Georgia Police Chief Michael Steffman with stalking, harassing communications, violation of oath of office, and multiple counts of misusing automated license-plate-reader data, hours after Steffman announced his retirement from the department. The GBI's investigation, opened after the Jackson County Sheriff's Office referred a complaint, found that Steffman had misused the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader network "to harass and stalk multiple individuals."

Audit logs later made public showed Steffman had searched the license plates of his ex-girlfriend and her teenage daughter roughly 600 times between July 2024 and August 2025, tracking her visits to stores, a doctor's office, and other stops and texting her about them, in some cases within minutes of her arrival. The searches stopped in August 2025, the same month his ex-girlfriend sought a protective order describing his use of the cameras to track her location; a judge denied the request, citing insufficient evidence of ongoing stalking. She filed a complaint with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, which referred the matter to the GBI. Three months later, GBI agents arrested Steffman and booked him into the Jackson County Jail; he was released on a $13,000 bond. Braselton's town manager appointed an interim chief to replace him.

A Washington Post investigation published August 2, 2026, drawing on court records, internal police reports, and audit-log data compiled by a camera-network transparency project, identified more than 50 law-enforcement officers nationwide — 46 of them involving Flock specifically — accused of similarly misusing license-plate-reader systems to monitor partners, exes, or other personal targets, part of a broader pattern that also includes at least ten other Georgia law-enforcement agencies.

Updates

2026-04-24 — Steffman found dead at his home before trial [2, 3]

Steffman was found dead at a rented home in Braselton on April 24, 2026, before his case reached trial. Georgia officials attributed the death to suicide.

Why we recorded this

Police access to automated surveillance systems is granted for law enforcement purposes, not personal use. Braselton, Georgia Police Chief Michael Steffman used his department's access to the Flock license-plate-camera network to run roughly 600 searches on his ex-girlfriend's and her daughter's plates over more than a year, tracking her movements outside any investigation. This archive records government-issued surveillance access converted into a tool for stalking a private individual, part of a documented pattern of similar misuse by officers nationwide.

Sources

  1. GBI Arrests Braselton Police Chief for Harassment and Stalking — Georgia Bureau of Investigation primary accessed August 4, 2026
  2. How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking — Washington Post investigative accessed August 4, 2026
  3. Former Braselton Police Chief Michael Steffman found dead, source says — FOX 5 Atlanta investigative accessed August 4, 2026
  4. Braselton police chief accused of misusing police cameras to stalk people — WSB-TV investigative accessed August 4, 2026
  5. Investigation: Cops Abusing Camera Network for Stalking — Newser secondary accessed August 4, 2026
  6. A Georgia police chief allegedly tracked his ex-girlfriend's license plate 600 times using Flock cameras — Attack of the Fanboy secondary accessed August 4, 2026

See also