Georgia Builds $150M Prison Surveillance System While Homicides Hit Record Highs

Georgia is constructing OWL, a first-in-nation centralized surveillance command center monitoring all 36 state prisons, despite no evidence that $150+ million in technology investments will reduce violence that killed 100+ people in 2024.

Georgia Department of Corrections is building OWL (Overwatch & Logistic Unit Command Center), an unprecedented real-time surveillance system integrating cameras, cell phone interdiction, radar, and health records across all state prisons—the first of its kind in American corrections. The $150+ million investment, approved through legislative budget insertions absent from the Governor's original recommendation, represents a massive commitment to surveillance technology while allocating just $805,000 to vocational education and operating facilities at 52.5% staffing capacity.

Facility Breakdown

What GPS Documented (Original Findings)

• Georgia is building OWL, the nation's first centralized prison surveillance command center, at a cost exceeding $150 million (GPS analysis of Governor's Budget Reports and Board of Corrections meeting minutes)
• OWL integrates 10 technology streams including Axon Fusus platform, managed access systems from 3 vendors, O.W.L. radar, and a secret $1.95M 'Data Intelligence' system (GPS analysis of Board meeting presentations and budget documents)
• Key OWL funding was inserted by Georgia House legislators and was absent from Governor Kemp's original budget recommendation (GPS comparison of Governor's original budget vs. House-passed budget)
• No operational equivalent to OWL exists in any other state corrections system or Federal Bureau of Prisons (GPS OWL Unit Research Brief 2026 - exhaustive 50-state review)
• Prison homicides exploded from 8-9 annually in 2017-2018 to 66 confirmed in 2024, with over 100 total homicide deaths (GPS analysis of GDC mortality data and DOJ findings)
• GDC reported 301 deaths in 2025 but refuses to identify 6 individuals, listing them only as 'John Doe #1-6' (GPS mortality database analysis comparing GDC statistics to official name lists)

Data source: GPS analysis of GDC Monthly Reports, Board of Corrections meeting minutes, Governor's Budget Reports, and federal grant databases

What DOJ Already Confirmed

• Georgia violates the Eighth Amendment through deliberate indifference to prisoner safety (Pages Throughout report - core finding)
• 142 homicides occurred in Georgia prisons from 2018-2023, with 94 in the latter three years (95.8% increase) (Pages Violence statistics section)
• Less than 10% of fights and less than 23% of assaults were forwarded for investigation (Pages Incident investigation failures section)
• GDC recovered 27,425 weapons and 12,483 cellphones between November 2021 and August 2023 (Pages Contraband section)
• At one medium-security prison, 67% of inmates were in wrong cells, showing classification system failure (Pages Classification failures section)
• Correctional officer vacancy rates averaged 49.3% in 2021, 56.3% in 2022, and 52.5% in 2023 (Pages Staffing crisis section)

What GDC Concealed

• The vendor, capabilities, and purpose of the $1.95 million 'Data Intelligence Advanced Integration' system
• The vendor and specifications for the GDC-OWL statewide prison WiFi network serving as communications backbone
• Privacy impact assessments, data retention policies, and access controls for OWL surveillance data
• The nature of the 'CGL partnership' mentioned by Commissioner Oliver at September 2025 Board meeting
• Federal Judge Marc Treadwell's April 2024 contempt order finding GDC 'repeatedly falsified documents'

Quotables

"Prisons are for punishment and rehabilitation — not TikTok."

— Senate Appropriations Chairman Blake Tillery

"The Court has long passed the point where it can assume that even sworn statements from the defendants are truthful."

— Federal Judge Marc Treadwell on GDC's credibility

"a gateway drug into other surveillance technologies"

— ACLU of Michigan on Fusus platform

"The owl may see everything. But it cannot fix what Georgia refuses to change."

— Georgia Prisoners' Speak analysis

"continuously monitor security cameras across the state, enabling a rapid response to disturbances"

— Rep. Dale Washburn describing OWL's function

Story Angles

• Local: Interview families of the 100+ people killed in 2024 about whether $150M in surveillance could have saved their loved ones; profile specific facilities like Washington State Prison operating with 5 officers for 69 posts
• Policy: Compare Georgia's $150M surveillance investment to $805K vocational education budget; examine how House legislators inserted funding absent from Governor's recommendation without public hearings
• Accountability: Investigate Commissioner Oliver ignoring federal court orders while building unprecedented surveillance; probe secret $1.95M 'Data Intelligence' system and undisclosed WiFi vendor contracts
• Data: Request and analyze: OWL vendor contracts, privacy assessments, staffing plans; compare homicide rates at facilities with/without advanced surveillance; map legislative budget insertions vs. Governor recommendations

Records Journalists Should Request

Georgia Open Records Act:

1. Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes - September 4, 2025 — Georgia Department of Corrections
2. Board of Corrections Meeting Minutes and Presentation Slides - April 3, 2025 — Georgia Department of Corrections
3. Data Intelligence Advanced Integration System - All contracts, RFPs, vendor agreements — Georgia Department of Corrections
4. OWL Command Center contracts with Axon/Fusus — Georgia Department of Corrections
5. GDC-OWL Statewide Prison WiFi Network specifications and vendor contracts — Georgia Department of Corrections
6. Operation Skyhawk Final Report or Summary — Georgia Department of Corrections
7. GDC 2025 Mortality Report and Official Mortality Name List — Georgia Department of Corrections

Federal FOIA:

1. BJA Grant 2020-BX-0002 full application and progress reports — Bureau of Justice Assistance
2. All communications between DOJ Civil Rights Division and GDC regarding surveillance technology — DOJ Civil Rights Division

Sources Available for Interview

Families:

• Families of individuals killed in 2024-2025 homicides

Incarcerated Witnesses:

• Incarcerated witnesses to January 2026 Washington State Prison riot
• Current GDC correctional officers, anonymous, background only

Experts:

• Electronic Frontier Foundation — Digital rights organization
• ACLU of Michigan — Civil liberties organization

Officials Who Should Be Asked for Comment

• Tyrone Oliver, Commissioner — Oversees OWL implementation; confirmed construction at Board meeting; rebuked by federal judge for ignoring court orders
• Blake Tillery, Senate Appropriations Chairman — Champions corrections technology spending; made 'not TikTok' statement
• Dale Washburn, State Representative — Provided clearest public description of OWL's function in legislative recap
• Brian Kemp, Governor — Approved $600M corrections package; original budget did not include key OWL items added by House

Questions GDC Has Not Answered

1. What vendor provides the $1.95M 'Data Intelligence Advanced Integration' system and what does it do?
2. Who is the vendor for the GDC-OWL statewide prison WiFi network?
3. Has a privacy impact assessment been conducted for OWL?
4. How many operators will staff OWL and what training will they receive?
5. What is the nature of the CGL partnership mentioned by Commissioner Oliver?
6. How long does OWL retain surveillance data and who can access it?

Source Documents

• DOJ Findings Report - Investigation of Georgia Prisons — 93-page report documenting constitutional violations, 142 homicides, and 82 recommendations
• GPS OWL Unit Research Brief 2026 — GPS's exhaustive 50-state review finding no operational equivalent to OWL
• Representative Dale Washburn's Week 8 Legislative Session Recap 2025 — Contains clearest public description of OWL's function and funding
• O.W.L. GroundAware Radar Specifications — Technical specifications for S-band radar system deployed at Baldwin State Prison
• Observation Without Limits LLC Corporate Information — Joint venture details between Dynetics/Leidos and Alabama Power/Southern Company
• ShawnTech Cellular Denial of Service Program — Details of C-DOS program permanently disabling contraband phones
• EFF Report: Neighborhood Watch Out - Cops Are Using Fusus — Major investigative report on Fusus platform privacy concerns
• Axon Fusus Corrections Case Study — References 'large Southern State' with 40 facilities - likely Georgia
• FCC Contraband Wireless Devices Database — Lists all CIS licenses for managed access systems in Georgia prisons
• Hawks Ear Communications LLC Corporate Profile — Corporate registration details for opaque managed access vendor