A Hall County Sheriff’s Office investigator has been fired after an internal investigation determined she repeatedly used the department’s Flock Safety system to track someone she knew for personal reasons. According to Now Georgia, Melissa Wood was terminated on September 2, making her the third investigator to lose her job amid an ongoing audit of the agency’s use of the license plate reader system.
The Hall County Sheriff’s Office said Wood’s searches had no connection to legitimate law enforcement purposes, according to Now Georgia. Wood had worked for the department since February 2022 and was most recently assigned to its property crimes unit.
The firing is part of a broader review being conducted by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs Unit. That audit remains ongoing, meaning investigators are continuing to examine how members of the agency have accessed and used the Flock Safety system.
Wood’s case is particularly notable because she isn’t the first employee whose use of the system has resulted in termination. Now, Georgia reports that she is the third Hall County investigator fired for unauthorized Flock searches discovered during the agency’s ongoing audit.
Personal Flock Searches Could Have Consequences Beyond Being Fired
According to Now Georgia, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office determined that Wood repeatedly used Flock to locate someone she personally knew. The agency characterized those searches as being conducted for personal reasons rather than as part of her law enforcement responsibilities.
The consequences may also extend beyond Wood losing her job with the Sheriff’s Office. According to the agency, her violations and others uncovered through the audit will be referred to the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and the Hall County Solicitor’s Office for further review.
That means termination isn’t necessarily the end of the matter for investigators found to have improperly accessed the system. What, if any, additional consequences result from those referrals wasn’t specified in the information released by the Sheriff’s Office.
Hall County’s Flock Audit Isn’t Finished Yet
The fact that three investigators have now been fired makes the continuing nature of the audit especially significant. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs Unit is still reviewing the agency’s use of Flock, according to Now Georgia, leaving open the possibility that additional violations could be discovered.
Flock systems give participating law enforcement agencies access to license plate information that can help locate vehicles during investigations, but Wood’s firing highlights what can happen when that access is instead used for a personal purpose. In this case, the Sheriff’s Office says the investigator repeatedly searched for someone she knew without a law enforcement reason for doing so.
For now, the agency has not indicated when its Internal Affairs audit will be completed or whether additional employees remain under investigation. With Wood becoming the third investigator terminated during the review, however, the Sheriff’s Office’s examination of how its personnel used the system is clearly broader than a single isolated incident.