The Institute for Justice (IJ) says DeKalb County’s convenience store camera ordinance tying business license renewals to the installation of mandatory hi-def video systems--with footage turned over to police on demand--violates property and privacy rights. IJ sent a letter to county lawmakers this week, “basically just sending up a flare, a warning” that the law has legal flaws, according to a lawyer with the IJ.

“Singling out certain businesses that have done nothing wrong and telling them that they have to spend thousands of dollars and have to record their customers and employees at all times is a constitutional issue,” Institute for Justice attorney Jared McClain tells WSB.

The ordinance, which went into effect in the summer of 2023, requires businesses to install security cameras at every gas pump and at the convenience store’s point of entry, point of exit, and point of sale. The cameras must have night vision, and the systems must meet specific video resolution requirements, be able to store 60 days’ worth of footage, and be able to supply police with video footage within 72 hours regardless of a warrant. Additionally, the ordinance requires businesses to have lighting on 75 feet of the building.

DeKalb County hired six new code enforcement officers to enforce these new requirements.

“The government is increasing its surveillance footage of the County or the City bounds, and doing it at no cost to the government because they’re forcing entrepreneurs to foot the bill,” says McClain.

McClain says policymakers trying to solve issues and help constituents don’t always consider the intricacies of the Constitution, especially in areas involving public safety, but says allowing police to demand video footage without a neutral third party first signing off on a search warrant based on probable cause could lead to all types of problems.

“There is a balance between law enforcement and privacy, and the Constitution has already struck that balance with the Fourth Amendment,” says McClain. He notes simply requiring search warrants would quash the Fourth Amendment violation.

McClain says the County pushing back the end-of-year compliance date so far is a good sign they know the ordinance is imperfect. He only expects a lawsuit would happen if DeKalb’s business owners decided they’d rather fight the ordinance than invest the money for the security upgrades--and the IJ takes these cases pro bono.

“If the government wants to encourage people to put up more security cameras or to turn over security footage, there’s ways to incentivize that behavior without threatening to throw people in jail and take away their business licenses and their livelihoods,” says McClain.

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