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Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Milwaukee: a police officer searched the plates of the person he was dating and that person's former partner about 179 times in the department's Flock license-plate-reader system in 2025; both obtained restraining orders, one saying she lives in a constant state of fear, and he was sentenced to probation in July 2026

Between 26 March and 26 May 2025 a Milwaukee police officer used the department's Flock license-plate-reader system to look up the plates of the person he was dating and of that person's former partner, listing 'investigation' as the reason each time. Prosecutors say he searched the pair's plates 179 times in all. He was charged with misconduct in February 2026, resigned, and pleaded guilty on 11 June 2026 to attempted misconduct in public office. In June a court commissioner granted both people four-year restraining orders against him; the woman wrote in her petition that his tracking was 'continual, repetitive, obsessive behavior' and that she lives in a constant state of fear and unease, and the other person wrote that he feared for his safety. On 15 July 2026 he was sentenced to probation and fined $500, with no contact with either victim.

AI system
Flock Safety license plate readers
Flock Safety
Occurred
26 Mar 2025 to 26 May 2025
Reported
25 February 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 supported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources
3 claims: 3 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed
2 people

AI system as recorded: Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader camera system used by the Milwaukee Police Department, whose plate-read records the officer searched for the two people's locations (WISN; Spectrum News)

What Happened

WISN (24 June 2026) reported that a court commissioner granted two restraining orders against the former officer, who did not object, on petitions by two people who say he tracked them; both work in law enforcement and WISN did not identify them at the court's request. Prosecutors say he searched the pair's plates 179 times. The woman, who filed a domestic-abuse restraining order, wrote that he had used the department's Flock system to track her whereabouts, that it was 'continual, repetitive, obsessive behavior' and not a lapse in judgment, and that she lives 'in a constant state of fear and unease'. The other person, a former co-worker and longtime friend, wrote that when the officer used the Flock system repeatedly to stalk him via police resources, he feared for his safety. Spectrum News (15 July 2026), citing the criminal complaint, reports that between 26 March and 26 May 2025 the officer looked up the plate of the person he was dating more than 120 times and that person's former partner's plate 55 times, listing 'investigation' as the reason. He was sentenced to probation, a $500 fine, no contact with both victims, and a mental-health assessment. A later complaint against the internal-affairs detective who investigated this case is recorded separately.

Reported harm

Two people were tracked through repeated license-plate-reader searches by a police officer; both sought and obtained restraining orders, one writing that she lives in a constant state of fear and unease and the other that he feared for his safety (their petitions as reported by WISN).

Outcome

Resolved

Charged with misconduct in February 2026 and later resigned from the department; pleaded guilty on 11 June 2026 to misdemeanor attempted misconduct in public office under a negotiated agreement. A court commissioner granted two four-year restraining orders in June 2026 and required him to surrender firearms (WISN). Sentenced on 15 July 2026 to probation (13 months per Spectrum News) and a $500 fine, with no contact with either victim and a mental-health assessment (Spectrum News). The Milwaukee Police Department changed its Flock camera policy after the case; officers approved to use the database must now sign an agreement to use it appropriately (Spectrum News).

What remains unknown

  • Whether the probation term is one year or 13 months; reports differ.
  • The other behavior the woman described in her petition.
  • The criminal case number.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. Spectrum News, citing the criminal complaint, reports that the officer looked up the two people's plates in the Flock system over 120 and 55 times; the woman's petition (WISN) says he used the department's Flock system to track her whereabouts, and the officer pleaded guilty. The plate-read location records were the automated system's output about their vehicles; the searches were the officer's acts. The sources do not describe the readers as AI.

3 claims: 3 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Between 26 March and 26 May 2025 a Milwaukee police officer looked up the plate of the person he was dating more than 120 times and that person's former partner's plate 55 times in the Flock system, listing 'investigation' as the reason; prosecutors put the total at 179 searches.

Causal attribution. Criminal complaint as relayed by Spectrum News and prosecutors as quoted by WISN; the officer pleaded guilty to attempted misconduct.

  • spectrumnews1.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'he looked up the license plate of his dating partner more than 120 times between March 26 and May 26 of 2025.'; 'He also looked at a second license plate that belonged to that person’s former partner 55 times in the same time period.'
  • wisn.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Prosecutors say he searched the license plates of the pair a total of 179 times.'
Reported Both people obtained four-year restraining orders; the woman wrote that his tracking was continual, repetitive, obsessive behavior and that she lives in a constant state of fear and unease, and the other person wrote that he feared for his safety.

Causal attribution. The victims' own petitions as quoted by WISN; the woman's petition also describes other behavior not detailed in the report.

  • wisn.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'A court commissioner granted the restraining orders, which will take effect for four years.'; 'This was not a lapse in judgment; it was a continual, repetitive, obsessive behavior.'; 'in a constant state of fear and unease.'; 'I feared for my safety.'
Reported He pleaded guilty on 11 June 2026 and was sentenced to 13 months of probation and a $500 fine, with no contact with both victims.

Causal attribution. Court outcome as reported; FOX6 (read privately) reports one year of probation.

  • spectrumnews1.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'He took a plea deal and pleaded guilty to the charge on June 11.'; 'sentenced to 13 months of probation and fined $500.'; 'no contact with both victims in the case'

Sources

2 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read on 2026-10-04 from the Internet Archive 2026 capture (WISN, published 24 June 2026); the live site returned HTTP 451. Reports the restraining-order hearing and quotes the two petitions. Applies to s1.

Read live on 2026-10-04 (Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin, 15 July 2026). Reports the sentence and the criminal complaint's search counts. Applies to s2.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: United States.

The officer worked for the Milwaukee Police Department and the case and restraining orders were heard in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin (WISN; Spectrum News). The victims' residence is not stated; affected_person_countries US rests on their petitions in a Milwaukee court and their law-enforcement work there.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-04: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional privacy and safety case, consistent with the held Flock officer-misuse rows: the officer pleaded guilty after searching two people's plates in the Flock license-plate-reader system 179 times, and both obtained restraining orders, citing fear (WISN; Spectrum News). Neither the officer nor the victims are named here.

People described

Two adults, both working in law enforcement: the woman the officer was dating and her former partner, a former co-worker and longtime friend of the officer (not identified at the court's request)

People reported harmed in this case

2 people

0 AI participants · 2 other people harmed

Two people, the officer's dating partner and her former partner, both tracked and both granted restraining orders citing fear (WISN; Spectrum News). Exact 2.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#flock#alpr#license-plate-reader#police-misuse#stalking#restraining-order#wisconsin#milwaukee#criminal-conviction#privacy#relationships

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Milwaukee: a police officer searched the plates of the person he was dating and that person's former partner about 179 times in the department's Flock license-plate-reader system in 2025; both obtained restraining orders, one saying she lives in a constant state of fear, and he was sentenced to probation in July 2026. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-milwaukee-police-officer-flock-alpr-tracking-partner-and-ex-restraining-orders-probation

BibTeX

@misc{2025_milwaukee_police_officer_flock_alpr_tracking_partner_and_ex_restraining_orders_probation,
  title = {Milwaukee: a police officer searched the plates of the person he was dating and that person's former partner about 179 times in the department's Flock license-plate-reader system in 2025; both obtained restraining orders, one saying she lives in a constant state of fear, and he was sentenced to probation in July 2026},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-milwaukee-police-officer-flock-alpr-tracking-partner-and-ex-restraining-orders-probation}
}

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