The IJ Database of ALPR Abuse

Former deputy Tony Lewis was charged with stalking and other crimes after allegedly using the Flock system to track someone he was in a relationship with.

Former deputy Coznavian Stubbs was charged with stalking and other crimes after allegedly using the Flock system to track someone he was in a relationship with.

Former deputy Joseph Callaway was charged with stalking and other crimes after allegedly using the Flock system to track someone he was in a relationship with.

Officer Elizabeth Snowman was criminally charged after allegedly using Flock cameras to track the location of her boyfriend’s ex-wife.

One of three unnamed Coweta County Sheriff’s Office employees who resigned in the midst of an audit into their use of Flock.

One of three unnamed Coweta County Sheriff’s Office employees who resigned in the midst of an audit into their use of Flock.

One of three unnamed Coweta County Sheriff’s Office employees who resigned in the midst of an audit into their use of Flock.

Officers pulled over an innocent person with guns drawn after a Flock camera issued an alert for a vehicle that should not have been in the system.

Former officer Joshua McDaniels resigned at the conclusion of an investigation that found he improperly used Flock to look up the location of his wife.

An outside investigation found that an unnamed officer committed “sustained policy violations” by using the Flock system to track the location of his ex-wife during their divorce proceedings.

Documents viewed by InvestigateTV showed that an unnamed East Point officer used Flock for personal searches, with the police chief describing the incident as a “one-off.”

Documents reviewed by InvestigateTV showed that an unnamed officer was forced to resign following an investigation into Flock misuse.

One of five unnamed DeKalb officers suspended for searching Flock without a legitimate law enforcement purpose.

One of five unnamed DeKalb officers suspended for searching Flock without a legitimate law enforcement purpose.

One of five unnamed DeKalb officers suspended for searching Flock without a legitimate law enforcement purpose.

One of five unnamed DeKalb officers suspended for searching Flock without a legitimate law enforcement purpose.

One of five unnamed DeKalb officers suspended for searching Flock without a legitimate law enforcement purpose.

One of three unnamed DeKalb officers suspended for unspecified Flock policy violations.

One of three unnamed DeKalb officers suspended for unspecified Flock policy violations.

One of three unnamed DeKalb officers suspended for unspecified Flock policy violations.

New Bedford officer Emily Pacheco was placed on leave and an investigation was opened after her ex-girlfriend filed for an abuse prevention order against her. Pacheco allegedly stalked her ex using Flock cameras.

Authorities in Millcreek discovered a Flock camera on city property and removed it after being unable to determine who installed it or who had access to it.

Isaac Whitus was one of five officers fired by the Albany Police Department and arrested in July 2026 for allegedly misusing Flock cameras.

Brittney Smith was one of five officers fired by the Albany Police Department and arrested in July 2026 for allegedly misusing Flock cameras.

Nicholas Richardson was one of five officers fired by the Albany Police Department and arrested in July 2026 for allegedly misusing Flock cameras.

Jade Jackson was one of five officers fired by the Albany Police Department and arrested in July 2026 for allegedly misusing Flock cameras.

Tytianna Davis was one of five officers fired by the Albany Police Department and arrested in July 2026 for allegedly misusing Flock cameras.

Deputy Quin’sha Goss was fired and arrested for allegedly using the Flock system for personal reasons over a period of several months.

DeKalb County Sergeant Kabiru Salawu was fired and arrested after allegedly using Flock cameras for personal reasons.

One of three unnamed officers fired and under criminal investigation for allegedly using Flock cameras to look up information on themselves, friends or family members.

One of three unnamed officers fired and under criminal investigation for allegedly using Flock cameras to look up information on themselves, friends or family members.

One of three unnamed officers fired and under criminal investigation for allegedly using Flock cameras to look up information on themselves, friends or family members.

As of July 2026, two unnamed officers were under investigation for allegedly misusing Flock cameras in Racine County.

As of July 2026, two unnamed officers were under investigation for allegedly misusing Flock cameras in Racine County.

Sumter County detective Brandy Almany was fired and criminally charged after allegedly using Flock and other police databases to track her husband’s ex-wife.

Deputy Christian Brewer was fired and arrested after an internal audit uncovered he used the Flock system to track the whereabouts of a person he was in a relationship with.

Auburn police used Flock cameras to track down a shooting suspect, but arrested the wrong man.

Chief John Stringer announced an internal and criminal investigation after receiving allegations that one of its officers misused the Flock system. That officer subsequently resigned.

Dispatcher Lauren Wilkinson was fired for unspecified misuse of the Flock system.

Former Deputy Richard Mann was fired for unspecified misuse of the Flock system.

According to Police Chief Reece Smith, a Moody officer was fired for misusing the Flock system. “There was no victim in this case,” the chief said, “but it was still a violation of the policy.”

Former Deputy Russell Kenton II was fired and arrested for using the Flock system for non-law enforcement purposes.

One of four unnamed officers put on leave and referred for a criminal investigation over improper Flock use, including searches involving acquaintances and family members.

One of four unnamed officers put on leave and referred for a criminal investigation over improper Flock use, including searches involving acquaintances and family members.

One of four unnamed officers put on leave and referred for a criminal investigation over improper Flock use, including searches involving acquaintances and family members.

One of four unnamed officers put on leave and referred for a criminal investigation over improper Flock use, including searches involving acquaintances and family members.

One of two unnamed staffers put on leave and referred for a criminal investigation over improper Flock use, including searches involving acquaintances and family members.

One of two unnamed staffers put on leave and referred for a criminal investigation over improper Flock use, including searches involving acquaintances and family members.

Reynoldsville officer Alissa Birkhimer resigned in the midst of an investigation into possible Flock misuse.

Henry County officer Patrick Isbell was fired and criminally charged after using license plate reader data “for non-law enforcement purposes.”

Plymouth police tracked a different automobile writer for days and then detained him and his wife in a Kohl’s parking lot after a similar misread issue involving a Range Rover test vehicle.

Automobile journalist Tim Esterdahl was pulled over by police after misreading the license plate of a Range Rover test vehicle.

Deputy Cynthia Jodesty was fired and arrested after she improperly accessed a license plate reader database.

Lieutenant Chris Bryant was fired and jailed for allegedly misusing the license plate reader database.

Sargeant Mike Creeden was fired and jailed for allegedly misusing the license plate reader database.

Andrae Wright, a former Effingham County Sheriff’s Office employee and investigator with the Ogeechee Circuit District Attorney’s Office, was charged with stalking and other crimes for alleged misuse of the Flock system.

An unnamed Springville officer resigned after an audit found that they looked up a family member’s vehicle.

Officer Seth Elliott was placed on leave and arrested for accessing Flock to look up an undercover investigator’s vehicle at the request of a drug suspect.

An EFF investigation found that Sparks Police Department receives “immigration violation” hot list alerts from ICE, despite internal policy prohibiting the Flock system from being used for immigration enforcement.

Pasadena Sargeant Michael Palitz resigned while under investigation for allegedly misusing the department’s Flock camera system. Officials told news outlet KPRC 2 that Palitz was using the cameras to “track and stalk a female officer.”

A Colorado driver was repeatedly pulled over after officers mistakenly put his license plate number on a Flock hotlist.

Based on a Flock capture, officers mistook an innocent driver’s car for one that was at the scene of a deadly accident. The driver was jailed for 13 days.

Officer Renee Downer was arrested and relieved of duty after allegedly using law enforcement databases, including a license plate reader system, to monitor the location of an ex-romantic partner.

Paige Forte, a supervisor in the Conyers Police Department’s Real-Time Crime Center, was fired and charged after allegedly using the Flock system to monitor her domestic partner’s location.

A Flock camera misread a digit on an innocent couple’s vehicle, prompting officers to pull the over and order them out of the car at gunpoint.

Sheriff’s Deputy Lamar Roman allegedly used an ALPR system to track and eventually pull over a woman he had met while providing security on a TV set. Roman was arrested and charged with accessing a computer or electronic device without authorization.

A San Francisco officer violated the department’s conflict-of-interest policy by obtaining Flock images of a relative’s stolen car and posting them to Instagram.

The Richmond Police Department shared Flock data with the FBI, a violation of a departmental policy banning sharing with federal authorities.

Reynoldsburg officer Mark Nichols resigned after an investigation found he searched for the license plates of a former domestic partner.

Another Colorado driver was repeatedly pulled over after officers mistakenly put her license plate number on a Flock hotlist.

Former Police Corporal Kareem Lynch was fired after an internal audit revealed he had allegedly used the department’s Flock system to monitor the whereabouts of a subordinate with whom he had a previous relationship.

Anna Altobello, a secretary at the Echols County Sheriff’s Office, was charged with multiple offenses after allegedly using the Flock system to search for people she knew personally.

Based on a Flock capture, officers mistook an innocent driver’s car for one that was at the scene of an attempted carjacking. The driver was jailed for nearly one month.

Detective Kyle Rector allegedly used license plate readers to track his estranged wife and two men he suspected were her new romantic partners. He was charged with multiple crimes in March 2026.

Out-of-state agencies were able to search Twin Cities suburbs’ license plate data for civil immigration enforcement, despite Minnesota law limiting such data to criminal cases only.

Officer Jessica Preston was fired after allegedly using the Flock system to look up the license plate of a man her colleague was romantically involved with, at the colleague’s request, due to concerns over her safety.

Lenexa police allegedly used license plate readers to track the movements of a writer who wrote a column critical of them.

Officer Kenneth Andersen resigned and was placed under investigation after allegedly improperly searching for a license plate number hundreds of times.

Former Niceville Officer Coty Hall pleaded no contest to several charges after using the department’s Flock system to track another officer and that officer’s spouse. Hall’s misconduct was discovered via an internal audit; Hall was fired following his arrest in October 2025.

Officer Cristian Morales was placed on leave and charged with misconduct in office after his ex-girlfriend filed a complaint alleging that he used a Flock system to track her.

Reserve Sgt. Francis Esposito was fired after transferring Flock data to a private company he also worked for.

An officer misinterpreted Flock captures to blame an innocent woman for series of thefts.

Officer William C. Copp, who also served as the police chief of nearby Holiday Hills, was arrested after searching Flock for several former romantic partners and at least one of their new partners. Copp has been fired from his Prairie Grove position and his employment with Holiday Hills is under review.

Sheriff’s Deputy Frank McGrath resigned with severance pay after internal investigators found he used the department’s Flock system to keep tabs on another deputy with whom he was romantically involved.

Yet another Colorado driver was repeatedly pulled over after officers mistakenly put her license plate number on a Flock hotlist.

After data in the Flock system incorrectly linked a suspect’s vehicle to his innocent father, officers detained the wrong man.

Racine County Sheriff’s Deputy Emil Ortiz was demoted and suspended for improperly using Flock to assist his girlfriend in a dispute with her ex-boyfriend.

An audit by the Illinois Secretary of State found that Customs and Border Protection gained access to Illinois license plate camera data, a violation of state law.

Investigator Curtis Hopkins was one of three Richmond County sheriff’s officers arrested in July after allegedly misusing the Flock system more than 100 times each. According to sources interviewed by the Augusta Press, some of the searches allegedly involved tracking women.

Lieutenant John McKenzie was one of three Richmond County sheriff’s officers arrested in July after allegedly misusing the Flock system more than 100 times each. According to sources interviewed by the Augusta Press, some of the searches allegedly involved tracking women.

Deputy Joshua Johnson was one of three Richmond County sheriff’s officers arrested in July after allegedly misusing the Flock system more than 100 times each. According to sources interviewed by the Augusta Press, some of the searches allegedly involved tracking women.

Lieutenant Jeremy Harrison was fired from the agency after using Flock cameras to track the location of a female officer.

Sheriff George Oppedyk used a Flock system to search for his wife’s vehicle hundreds of times. Idaho’s Attorney General concluded that no crime was committed, but Oppedyk retired in April 2026, two years before his term of office ended.

Former Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Bryan was charged with stalking and official misconduct after allegedly using the department’s ALPR system to monitor the locations of an ex-girlfriend and her new partner. The misconduct came to light after the victims filed for an order of protection against Bryan.

Former Deputy Jaquarius Yarbrough was arrested after allegedly using the Flock system to track the license plate of a woman he’d been having an affair with 1,639 times over several months.

Former Greer Officer Sebastian Echeverry was fired after allegedly using the department’s Flock system for personal use. According to FITSNews reporting, “at least one of Echeverry’s unauthorized searches allegedly targeted his ex-girlfriend.”

An officer with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office ran a nationwide Flock search for a woman suspected of having an abortion.

Officer Roberto Cedeno was charged with multiple felonies after allegedly using the city’s ALPR system to track an ex-partner and her friends hundreds of times over two months.

Officer Josue Ayala allegedly used the department’s network of Flock ALPRs to track a woman he was dating and her ex-partner nearly 180 times over a two-month period. Ayala resigned in 2026 after being charged with misconduct in public office.

A woman filed an unlawful arrest lawsuit against the town after officers attempted to use a Flock photo to identify a driver of a car they were pursuing, and subsequently arrested the wrong person.

Former Officer Zachary Gauthier received 23 charges of official misconduct for misusing data systems, including Flock license plate readers, for personal reasons.

Officer Latasha Moore allegedly used a license plate reader system to find the location of someone with whom she was in a “personal relationship.”

A Louisville detective was disciplined after sharing his Flock login with a DEA agent in violation of city policy.

According to internal documents obtained by stopflock.org, Officer Jaila Cole-Clark ran hundreds of Flock searches for her former domestic partner and that individual’s new partner. Cole-Clark resigned from department in the middle of the investigation.

According to an investigation by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, police agencies across the country logged hundreds of searches related to political protests between December 2024 and October 2025.

Haines City officer Christopher Goodson was put on leave and arrested after an investigation revealed he searched the Flock database for his estranged wife’s car more than 700 times between September 1, 2024 and June 30, 2026.

Former officer Michelle Berling was sentenced to five years of probation after allegedly tampering with Flock data and images.

Deputy Thadius Gordon was relieved of duty after allegedly using an ALPR database to track his ex-wife’s location more than 100 times.

Out-of-state authorities ran more than 1.6 million searches of the city’s license plate reader data, including searches for immigration enforcement purposes, which are illegal under state law.

Officers detained an innocent man at gunpoint after a Flock camera misread his license plate.

Police Chief Michael Steffman was arrested after allegedly using license plate readers to stalk and harass multiple people, including a former romantic partner. Steffman resigned shortly before his arrest.

After a Flock camera misread an “O” as a “0,” officers detained two grandparents at gunpoint while their three-year-old granddaughter watched from the car.

After being arrested for kidnapping his ex-fiance, Deputy Alexander Vanny allegedly used the department’s Flock system to track one of her friends. In December 2025 he was convicted of multiple charges in a jury trial.

Officer Jarmarus Brown allegedly used ALPRs to stalk his girlfriend and her family members more than 100 times over seven months. Brown was arrested and charged in 2025.

An analysis by the Houston Chronicle found that the overwhelming majority of Flock searches by Houston Police Department employees offered minimal or no justification for the search.

Former officer Tracey Royston was arrested and criminally charged after allegedly using another department’s Flock system for non-law enforcement purposes.

Officers misidentified a vehicle based on an ALPR alert, detaining an innocent teenager at gunpoint.

After a Flock camera misread a “7” as a “2,” officers detained an innocent driver at gunpoint, sicced their dog on him, and jailed him for several hours.

Former Coffee County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Rozar was charged with multiple criminal offenses after allegedly using the department’s Flock system to stalk a woman he was romantically interested in. Rozar was fired from the department at the beginning of the investigation.

An innocent motorist was detained at gunpoint after a Flock ALPR misread a character on his license plate, flagging the car as stolen. The sheriff’s office claimed the misread was due to a tinted license plate cover.

Detective Tehrangi Chapman was charged with misconduct after allegedly using the Flock system to track the movements of two people over a period of one year. His abuse came to light after he was assigned to investigate the misconduct of Josue Ayala, another Milwaukee officer charged with misusing the system.

After a Flock camera failed to distinguish between temporary and permanent license plates, sheriff’s deputies detained an innocent couple at gunpoint.

Police Chief Lee Nygaard resigned after using Flock cameras to track his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend more than 200 times over several months.

Officers misinterpreted ALPR data and detained an innocent woman at gunpoint, put her autistic child in the back seat of a police car, and impounded her vehicle for several weeks.

Officers misinterpreated a Flock alert and detained two innocent men at gunpoint.

Officers misinterpreted ALPR data and detained an innocent woman at gunpoint.

After a Flock camera misread a digit of their license plate, officers detained two innocent sisters at gunpoint.

After officers entered incorrect information into the ALPR system, officers detained an innocent teenager at gunpoint.

More than 140 law enforcement agencies nationwide accessed Dayton’s Flock camera system for immigration-related searches over a period of several years, despite such searches not being allowed under city policy.

Officer Robert Josett used a Flock camera system to track his mistress and her other romantic interests. Josett pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges in April 2026.

After officers failed to remove a license plate from a hot list, they pulled over and detained an innocent driver.

Flock sent 1,427 alerts to Roseville police over two years, flagging cars as stolen or used in a felony. In 71% of them, the cameras read the plates incorrectly.

Kechi Lieutenant Victor Heiar pleaded guilty to computer crime and stalking after using Flock cameras to track his estranged wife.

An ALPR hit led to an innocent woman’s arrest after officers entered incorrect information into the license plate reader system.

After officers failed to remove a recovered rental vehicle from a hot list, officers detained two innocent women after they drove past a license plate camera.

A Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant used Flock cameras to monitor the locations of multiple people dozens of times starting January 2022. One of those people was in a “contentious familial relationship” with the lieutenant. The lieutenant was suspended for two days.

Officer Michael McSherry pleaded guilty to stalking charges after using readers to track his estranged wife and other family members.

After an ALPR misread a license plate that was partially obscured by dirt, officers detained the driver at gunpoint.

After an ALPR misread a minivan’s license plate, officers detained a woman and four children at gunpoint.

After officers failed to update a hot list about a stolen rental vehicle that had been recovered, a Vigilant ALPR flagged the vehicle and the driver and his brother were detained at gunpoint.