While the Georgia Attorney General campaigns for governor by encouraging people to violate federal law, one sheriff’s office is using new technology to combat contraband in its correctional facility.
In a campaign ad released last week, Chris Carr, who is Georgia’s current Attorney General and Republican candidate for Governor, is seen firing a gun at a drone while sporting a hat that says ‘Make Crime Illegal Again.’ He tells a sheriff that “criminals are flying drones over our prisons” to deliver contraband and goes on to state “I’ll defend you and anyone else in law enforcement doing the right thing . Shoot ‘em down.’
The ad has garnered criticism on a few fronts, namely the recommendation to violate the federal law (18 U.S.C. § 32) that classifies drones as aircraft and requires a prison sentence and hefty fine for destroying one. Offenders can also face civil penalties from the FAA. Some have called the ‘Shoot ‘em down’ initiative ‘ironic,’ as Carr dons his hat about making crime illegal.
Other critics have pointed out the safety risk in shooting a drone, which could cause it to crash into a vehicle traveling on the roadway or a nearby home. Though it wasn’t prompted by gunfire, a drone delivering contraband to Smith State Prison in Glennville crashed into a residence in 2025, causing damage to the home due to a fire.
Additionally, if elected Governor, Carr would have no authority to ‘defend’ anyone facing criminal charges in federal court and he would lack the executive authority to compel someone else to do the same.
And finally, the sheriff featured in Carr’s video is from Grady County in rural southwest Georgia where there is no state prison and the county jail has a capacity of 132 inmates. It’s unlikely that Sheriff Earl Prince has encountered the same issues as sheriffs who serve counties with state prisons or large county jails.
For example, in Fulton County, almost 300 drones were spotted around the jail in a six-month period in 2025. WABE reported in March 2026 that in a press conference, Sheriff Patrick Labat said, “Now, if it were up to me, I’d take a shotgun, and I’d shoot them all down … but we certainly can’t do that right now.”
Instead, the Sheriff’s Office has opted to implement their own drone to intercept drones traveling with contraband intended for inmates. The technology is on the roof of the jail and is equipped with audio and video recorders to relay what is happening in seconds.
While the equipment is supplied by Flock, a company currently facing backlash over surveillance practices, the drones are paid for with funds from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Foundation, which operates on donations. No tax dollars are required and federal charges can’t arise out of the use of the technology.
Fox5 Atlanta reported in March that at least five employees are FAA-certified to operate the drone.
Most notably, contraband in Georgia prisons was not a priority of Carr’s until he announced his bid for governor. During his tenure as Georgia’s Attorney General, criminal enterprises operating inside Georgia prisons have smuggled drugs, corrupted institutions, generated millions, and orchestrated violence against Georgians living on the outside. Carr was silent on the issue for years and even held off lobbying the FCC for changes to its regulation on cell phone jammers until late 2024.
More notably, his office has failed to present the contraband-adjacent case against former Smith State Prison warden Brian Adams to a grand jury in Tattnall County. More than three years have elapsed since his arrest.
You can watch the ad below.
