Fort Bend County, Texas: internal-affairs documents show a sheriff's office lieutenant looked up one license plate 41 times and another 148 times in Flock license-plate cameras from January 2022 to December 2025 for no official purpose; the investigation followed a resident's complaint of being stalked, and the lieutenant was suspended for two days (ABC13)
According to Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office internal-affairs documents obtained by ABC13 Houston (17 July 2026), a sheriff's office lieutenant used the office's Flock license-plate cameras to look up one license plate 41 times and another 148 times between January 2022 and December 2025, and admitted that the searches were not related to official law-enforcement work. The investigation began when a resident filed a complaint alleging that the lieutenant was stalking them and that they were in fear for their family's safety. The lieutenant said they were concerned that the two drivers were lurking near the lieutenant's home and family, and the documents describe at least one of the drivers' relationship as a very contentious familial relationship with the known vehicle owner. Internal affairs found that the lieutenant violated the office's general orders and suspended the lieutenant for two days. The lieutenant told investigators that the information was not used or shared. No criminal charges have been reported, and neither the lieutenant nor the resident is named.
- AI system
- Flock Safety license plate readers
- Flock Safety
- Occurred
- Jan 2022
- Reported
- 17 July 2026
- Event location
- United States
- What the AI did
- Made a claim about the person
- Reported harm
- Exploitation or AbusePsychological Distress
- Whose AI use
- An institution’s AI use
- Setting
- Privacy · Justice · Relationships
- Evidence
- AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 1 source
- 4 claims: 4 reported. 3 open questions
- People reported harmed
- At least 1 person
AI system as recorded: Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader cameras used by the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office, whose records of passing vehicles the lieutenant searched by plate
What Happened
ABC13 Houston (KTRK), 17 July 2026, reported on internal-affairs documents it obtained from the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office. The documents show that a lieutenant used the office's Flock cameras to look up one license plate 41 times and another plate 148 times from January 2022 through December 2025, and that the lieutenant admitted the searches were not related to official law-enforcement work. The investigation followed a complaint from a resident who alleged that the lieutenant was 'stalking' them and that they were in fear for their family's safety. In the internal-affairs document the lieutenant said they were concerned that the two drivers were 'lurking' near their home and family; the documents describe at least one of the drivers' relationship as a 'very contentious familial relationship with the known vehicle owner.' Internal affairs found a violation of the department's general orders and suspended the lieutenant for two days. According to the documents, the lieutenant said nothing was done with the information retrieved and that it was not shared. ABC13 did not name the lieutenant because the lieutenant faces no criminal charges; a University of Houston law professor told ABC13 that criminal escalation would need clear intent to harm. ABC13 said it had contacted the lieutenant and the sheriff's office and was awaiting a response.
Reported harm
A resident complained that a sheriff's lieutenant was stalking them and said they feared for their family's safety; internal-affairs documents reported by ABC13 show the lieutenant searched two plates 189 times in the Flock license-plate-reader system over four years without an official purpose.
Outcome
ResolvedAn internal-affairs investigation found that the lieutenant violated the sheriff's office's general orders; the lieutenant was suspended for two days (ABC13, citing the documents). ABC13 reported no criminal charges and said it had asked the lieutenant and the sheriff's office for comment.
What remains unknown
- Whether the complainant owned or drove one of the two searched vehicles, and how many distinct people the searches concerned.
- Whether the lieutenant acted on the search results; the lieutenant says the information was not used or shared.
- The sheriff's office's response to ABC13 and whether any further review followed.
What the evidence supports
AI involvement: reported. ABC13 reports internal-affairs documents showing that the lieutenant used the sheriff's office's Flock cameras to look up two license plates 41 and 148 times. The automated readers generated the location records about the vehicles that the lieutenant searched; the searches and their purpose are recorded as the lieutenant's own acts. The source does not use the word AI or describe how the cameras read plates.
4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean
Reported According to internal-affairs documents obtained by ABC13, a Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office lieutenant used the office's Flock cameras to look up one license plate 41 times and another 148 times from January 2022 through December 2025, and admitted that the searches were not related to official law-enforcement work.
Causal attribution. Internal-affairs documents as reported by ABC13; the documents were not inspected.
- abc13.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'used Flock cameras to look up one license plate 41 times and another plate 148 times from January 2022 through December 2025.'; 'the lieutenant admitted the searches were not related to official law enforcement work.'
Reported The investigation followed a complaint from a resident who alleged that the lieutenant was stalking them and said they feared for their family's safety.
Causal attribution. The resident's complaint as recorded in the internal-affairs documents reported by ABC13.
- abc13.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'when a resident filed a complaint, alleging the lieutenant was "stalking" them and that they were in fear for their family's safety.'
Reported The lieutenant said they were concerned that the two drivers were lurking near the lieutenant's home and family, and the documents describe at least one of the drivers' relationship as a very contentious familial relationship with the known vehicle owner; the lieutenant said the information was not used or shared.
Causal attribution. The lieutenant's own account in the internal-affairs documents as reported.
- abc13.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'the lieutenant claimed concern that the two drivers were'; 'near their home and family.'; 'very contentious familial relationship with the known vehicle owner.'; 'claimed not to have done anything with the information retrieved from the Flock cameras'
Reported Internal affairs found that the lieutenant violated the department's general orders, and the lieutenant was suspended for two days; no criminal charges have been reported.
Causal attribution. Internal-affairs finding as reported by ABC13.
- abc13.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'An internal affairs investigation found that the lieutenant violated the department's general orders and was suspended for two days.'; 'ABC13 is not naming the lieutenant because the lieutenant is not facing criminal charges.'
Sources
1 source inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.
- ABC13 Houston, 17 July 2026: Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office lieutenant admits to improper use of Flock cameras per docs(opens in new tab)
s1 · abc13.com · News report · English · Inspected · 17 July 2026 · Primary
How the sources were read, and where the events happened
Read live on 2026-10-03 (ABC13 Houston/KTRK, 17 July 2026). Reports from internal-affairs documents obtained by ABC13; the documents themselves were not inspected. The page byline shows Saturday, July 18, 2026; the article metadata gives publication at 23:57 UTC on 17 July 2026, the evening of 17 July in Houston. Applies to s1.
Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: Unknown.
The sheriff's office is in Fort Bend County, Texas, and ABC13 describes the complainant as a resident; no court proceeding is reported.
Reviewed for publication 2026-10-03: Published as a contextual case (made_claim_about) consistent with earlier officer-misuse rows for Flock license-plate readers: internal-affairs documents reported by ABC13 show a sheriff's lieutenant searched two plates 189 times without an official purpose, and a resident complained of being stalked. The account rests on one outlet's reading of the documents. The lieutenant and the resident are not named.
People described
A resident who complained that the lieutenant was stalking them and who feared for their family's safety; the documents refer to two drivers whose plates were searched (none is named)
People reported harmed in this case
At least 1 person
0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed
One resident complained of being stalked and feared for their family's safety (ABC13, citing the internal-affairs documents). The documents refer to two plates and two drivers; whether the vehicle owners and the complainant are distinct people is not stated. Documented minimum 1.
Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.
Tags
Cite this case
Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.
APA
NOPE. (2026). Fort Bend County, Texas: internal-affairs documents show a sheriff's office lieutenant looked up one license plate 41 times and another 148 times in Flock license-plate cameras from January 2022 to December 2025 for no official purpose; the investigation followed a resident's complaint of being stalked, and the lieutenant was suspended for two days (ABC13). AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2022-fort-bend-county-texas-sheriff-lieutenant-flock-alpr-plate-lookups-resident-stalking-complaint
BibTeX
@misc{2022_fort_bend_county_texas_sheriff_lieutenant_flock_alpr_plate_lookups_resident_stalking_complaint,
title = {Fort Bend County, Texas: internal-affairs documents show a sheriff's office lieutenant looked up one license plate 41 times and another 148 times in Flock license-plate cameras from January 2022 to December 2025 for no official purpose; the investigation followed a resident's complaint of being stalked, and the lieutenant was suspended for two days (ABC13)},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {AI incidents},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2022-fort-bend-county-texas-sheriff-lieutenant-flock-alpr-plate-lookups-resident-stalking-complaint}
} Related cases
Katy, Texas: a former police officer is indicted in Fort Bend County on felony stalking and misuse of official information, accused of using the Katy Police Department's Flock license-plate readers to track his ex-wife's location between November 2024 and April 2025 and of placing a tracking device on her vehicle; he was fired and has pleaded not guilty
A former Katy Police Department officer faces two third-degree felony indictments in Fort Bend County, Texas, for stalking and misuse of official information, according to court records reported by KPRC 2 and Houston Public Media (25 August 2026). Prosecutors accuse him of using the department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track his ex-wife's location on more than one occasion between November 2024 and April 2025, and the stalking indictment also accuses him of placing a tracking device on her vehicle; it alleges the conduct caused her to feel harassed, alarmed and tormented. The Katy Police Department says the ex-wife complained in October 2025 that she believed he was tracking her whereabouts, that its investigation found he had misused the Flock system to run her plate, and that he was suspended, fired and referred to the Fort Bend County District Attorney. He was arrested in May 2026, released on bond with conditions barring contact with her and use of tracking devices and law-enforcement databases, and has pleaded not guilty. The department says the same Flock system that was abused was used to bring the charges.
Kechi, Kansas: a police lieutenant used the Wichita Police Department's Flock license-plate-reader system to monitor his estranged wife's location; arrested in October 2022, he pleaded guilty to computer crime and stalking in April 2023
According to the Sedgwick County District Attorney, a lieutenant of the Kechi Police Department in Kansas took advantage of his position to use the Flock License Plate Reader system to monitor his estranged wife's location. The woman had told a friend that she was scared and thought he was somehow tracking her whereabouts, and the friend asked a Wichita police officer how someone could get a protection-from-stalking order. Wichita police arrested the lieutenant on 26 October 2022 and he was removed from the Kechi department. On 5 April 2023 he pleaded guilty to computer crime and stalking, both misdemeanors, and was sentenced to a controlling term of 24 months in jail, with probation granted for 18 months. The Wichita Police Department, whose Flock system he had used, revoked the whole Kechi department's access and said it would audit the system weekly, and the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers' Standards revoked his certification in August 2023.
New Bedford, Massachusetts: a police officer is under internal investigation after a Flock audit raised concerns about unauthorized use and a personal connection to a searched plate; the officer's ex-girlfriend, who says she was harassed after their break-up and that police told her that her plate had been searched a concerning number of times, had an abuse prevention order extended for six months on 13 August 2026; the officer says the searches were for a drug investigation, and the department paused its Flock cameras
The New Bedford Police Department in Massachusetts placed an officer on administrative leave in August 2026 after an audit of its Flock license-plate-reader system, begun on 31 July, flagged activity that raised concerns about unauthorized use and found a personal connection between the officer and a person associated with a license plate that had been searched. The officer's former girlfriend, who ended their relationship in early April 2026, says in an affidavit reported by Boston.com that she then received endless calls and messages and that the officer showed up at her home unannounced, once while on duty in a cruiser. WJAR reports that she alleged the department had told her that her plate had been searched in its Flock database a concerning number of times, and NBC Boston reports her testimony that police told her the officer was tracking her vehicle and that this made her feel she was being followed. On 13 August New Bedford District Court extended an abuse prevention order against the officer for six months. The officer testified that the searches were for a legitimate drug investigation involving another driver of the car. The department suspended its use of Flock on 11 August while it reviews the system; its internal investigation is open and no criminal charge has been reported.
Stow, Massachusetts: a police detective resigned amid termination proceedings after an internal-affairs investigation found that the officer ran vehicle searches through Flock license-plate readers and state criminal-justice systems with no law-enforcement reason to get information about a Worcester County resident known to the officer; the department sought criminal charges and ended its Flock contract
The Stow Police Department in Massachusetts placed an officer, a detective and acting sergeant, on administrative leave on 18 June 2026, within three hours of a complaint from a Worcester County resident who was known to the officer. According to the department, an internal-affairs investigation found that the officer tried to obtain personal information about the resident several times in 2024 and 2025, ran vehicle information through Flock Safety's license-plate-reader system and the state Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) system on multiple dates with no legitimate law-enforcement reason, and accessed criminal offender record information at least five times. The Sentinel and Enterprise reports that the resident has been reported to be a former girlfriend. After a criminal investigation into the CJIS queries, the department filed a criminal complaint on 17 July seeking charges and referred the matter to the Middlesex District Attorney, sent its report to the state Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, and ended its relationship with Flock Safety, removing its last camera in early August. The officer, on unpaid leave from 31 July, later resigned amid termination proceedings. No charging decision has been reported.
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