Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley will appear before Brookhaven residents at a public panel on Thursday, Oct. 15. The Historic Brookhaven Neighborhood Association (HBNA) announced the event in its fall newsletter, setting the stage for a direct exchange between the Atlanta-based surveillance company's founder and the neighbors whose cameras have been at the center of a growing controversy.

Langley will join Atlanta Police Department Zone 2 Commander Major Benjamin Vayens and District 7 Atlanta City Councilman Thomas Worthy on the panel at the Brookhaven City Centre from 6 to 8 p.m.

The forum follows months of revelations about Flock camera misuse in the area. 404 Media reported that a fictitious account called "Flock City PD," operated by the company itself, searched live Dunwoody cameras for politically and religiously sensitive terms including "coexist bumper sticker," "Star of David" and "vehicle with trump bumper sticker." Flock employees also accessed Dunwoody cameras at a children's gymnastics room, a school, a playground, a pool and the Marcus Jewish Community Center during sales pitches to other agencies, according to Gadget Review.

Flock told 404 Media the searches were part of testing and demonstrations, not investigative searches by a customer agency. The company said the demo environment is now isolated from live law enforcement networks.

Closer to Brookhaven, eight DeKalb County police officers were suspended in August for violating department policy on Flock camera use, DeKalb Police Chief Gregory Padrick confirmed to WSB-TV.

Langley has acknowledged the problems publicly. "My hope is that not just Flock, but our peers in the industry and state regulators wake up to this problem and also start increasing the penalties for a violation of the power that we entrust in law enforcement," he told WCNC Charlotte on Sept. 11.

In August, Flock announced new privacy guardrails: a recommended seven-day data retention limit instead of 30 days, tools to restrict data sharing between agencies, mandatory case codes for searches and automatic suspension of users flagged for abnormal activity.

HBNA board member John Higley chairs the association's Flock Cameras committee. Councilman Worthy, an attorney and chief public policy officer at Piedmont Healthcare, wrote in the newsletter that the conversation around personal and data privacy must continue, even as residents acknowledge the crime-solving benefits of cameras and license plate readers. He noted that Zone 2, under Vayens' command, is regularly the zone with the lowest or next-to-lowest crime rate in Atlanta.

HBNA President Gene Hooff called the Oct. 15 event an opportunity for residents to learn about the role of technology in public safety.

The meeting will be held in the Murphy Candler Reception Room on the first floor of Brookhaven City Centre. Parking is free in the Centre's garage or the MARTA surface lot, both off Apple Valley Road behind the MARTA station. Appetizers, beer and wine will be provided by Petite Violette. The HBNA said further details would follow by email.