City opens ethics investigation into Freeman-Axon relationship

Senior Atlanta Police Department (APD) official Marshall Freeman faces an ethics investigation involving his interest in an Axon Enterprises acquisition target, the City of Atlanta Office of Ethics confirmed.  

Axon is a city vendor with a 10-year, $109 million contract for police body cameras, tasers, and associated software.  

Freeman currently serves as APD’s Deputy Chief Administrative Officer. He previously worked as Chief Operating Officer at the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF).  

In January, Freeman filed a city ethics form that disclosed his financial conflict of interest in an unnamed company Axon was considering acquiring and stated that he recused himself from decisions impacting Axon’s bottom line beginning Dec. 29, 2023.  

A month later, Axon acquired Georgia-based Fusus, a real-time crime center company whose technology powers Atlanta’s massive surveillance camera network. Freeman’s endorsement of Fusus technology features prominently in a Feb. 1 Axon press release announcing the acquisition to investors. 

The revelation follows an Atlanta Community Press Collective report earlier this month detailing Freeman’s communications with Axon and Fusus representatives despite his stated conflict of interest and recusal. 

I can confirm that this matter is currently under investigation by our office,” Carlos Santiago, Atlanta’s deputy ethics officer, told ACPC in an email.

Appearances

Both before and after joining APD, Freeman appeared alongside Chris Lindenau, Fusus chief executive officer at the time, at speaking engagements where Fusus touted its products to potential customers. Lindenau is now senior vice president and general manager at Fusus following the acquisition by Axon.

In October 2022, while he was still APF’s COO, Freeman appeared with Lindenau on a panel titled, ‘Holistic Public Safety: How to Build a Real Time Crime Center That Focuses on Community Engagement,’ at the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference in Dallas, Texas.