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Pasadena, Texas: a police sergeant accused by a city council member of using the department's Flock license-plate readers to track a female fellow officer resigned in July 2026 and surrendered the Texas peace officer license in lieu of prosecution; officials would not say whether the surrender related to the Flock allegation

According to Pasadena City Council Member Emmanuel Guerrero, speaking to KPRC 2, ABC13 and FOX 26 from July 2026, a sergeant in the Pasadena, Texas, police department was investigated for using the department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track and stalk a female fellow officer, and the system flagged the heavy use of the account. The city says the investigation began in May 2026. The sergeant resigned on 8 July 2026 while under investigation, and in August the department and the Harris County District Attorney's Office said the former sergeant had surrendered the Texas peace officer license under an agreement in lieu of criminal prosecution. Neither office would confirm that the surrender related to the Flock allegation, and the department has not released its findings. Its statement describes allegations made by two employees against one another. The former sergeant's attorney told ABC13 that the client disputes the allegations.

AI system
Flock Safety license plate readers
Flock Safety
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
10 July 2026
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Made a claim about the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or Abuse
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use · An institution’s AI use
Setting
Work · Privacy · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 6 sources, 3 underlying accounts
10 claims: 2 corroborated, 8 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 1 person

AI system as recorded: Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras operated by the Pasadena Police Department, whose records a sergeant is alleged to have searched to track a fellow officer

What Happened

KPRC 2 reported on 10 July 2026 that a Pasadena police sergeant had resigned while under an internal investigation. Council Member Emmanuel Guerrero told KPRC that, based on what the council had gathered, the sergeant was using the city's Flock system 'to track and stalk a female officer', and that as Guerrero understood it 'the system itself flagged and notified that account associated to the officer.' A department spokesperson confirmed the resignation and said the investigation would continue. KPRC states that it had not independently verified the allegation. Guerrero gave the same account to ABC13 (14 July) and FOX 26, telling FOX 26 that the system 'after so much usage, pinged' the sergeant's account. Mayor Thomas Schoenbein said the investigation started in May 2026 and that the sergeant resigned on 8 July. On 7 August ABC13 reported internal-affairs documents from the sergeant's file. According to those documents, the sergeant had been suspended indefinitely in March 2025 over the response to a female officer's harassment complaint, the suspension was cut to 30 days on appeal, and the sergeant returned to duty in August 2025. The attorney told ABC13 that the client disputes the allegations. On 10 and 12 August the department (to KPRC and FOX 26) and the Harris County District Attorney's Office (to ABC13) said the former sergeant had surrendered the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement peace officer license under an agreement in lieu of criminal prosecution. The department said both its administrative and criminal investigations, which arose from 'allegations made by two employees against one another', had concluded. Both employees had resigned, and prosecutors declined one of the two matters. Neither the department nor the district attorney's office would confirm whether the license surrender related to the alleged Flock misuse. The administrative investigation is confidential under Texas law, according to the department.

Reported harm

According to City Council Member Emmanuel Guerrero (KPRC, ABC13, FOX 26), a Pasadena police sergeant used the department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track a female fellow officer; the department has not released its findings and the former sergeant's attorney disputes the allegations.

Outcome

Resolved

The sergeant resigned on 8 July 2026 during an internal investigation opened in May 2026. In August 2026 the department and the Harris County District Attorney's Office said the former sergeant had surrendered the Texas peace officer license under an agreement in lieu of criminal prosecution; the department said its administrative and criminal investigations had concluded and that the administrative file is confidential under Texas law. No criminal charge has been reported, and neither office would confirm that the surrender related to the Flock allegation.

What remains unknown

  • When the searches took place, how many there were and what they returned; the city says only that the investigation began in May 2026.
  • Whether the tracked officer was told of the searches or experienced further consequences.
  • Whether the second employee in the department's statement is the tracked officer.
  • Whether the license surrender relates to the Flock allegation; neither the department nor the district attorney's office would say.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. A Pasadena city council member, interviewed by KPRC, ABC13 and FOX 26, says the sergeant used the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader system to track a female officer, and that the system flagged the heavy use of the account. The AI component is identified by product category only: automated license-plate-reader cameras that read passing vehicles by machine (Flock describes them to KPRC as built to identify the plate, make, model and colour of vehicles). The location records about the officer's vehicle are the system's automated claims about that officer's movements; the searches and their purpose are recorded as the sergeant's own acts. No inspected source uses the word AI or says what the searches returned. ABC13 separately reports, in its own voice, that the department opened an investigation in May into the sergeant for potentially misusing Flock cameras; no official statement names Flock.

10 claims: 2 corroborated, 8 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Pasadena City Council Member Emmanuel Guerrero said the sergeant was investigated for using the police department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track and stalk a female fellow officer.

Causal attribution. One council member's account, given separately to three outlets. KPRC says it has not independently verified the allegation, and the department has not released its findings.

Reported The council member said the Flock system itself flagged the heavy use of the sergeant's account.

Causal attribution. The council member's understanding; no audit record has been published.

Corroborated The sergeant resigned from the Pasadena Police Department while under an internal investigation.

Causal attribution. Confirmed separately by the police department (KPRC) and by the mayor (ABC13).

Reported The City of Pasadena said the investigation began in May 2026, and the mayor gave the resignation date as 8 July 2026.

Causal attribution. The mayor's statements as carried by ABC13.

Corroborated After resigning, the former sergeant surrendered the Texas peace officer license under an agreement with the Harris County District Attorney's Office in lieu of criminal prosecution.

Causal attribution. Stated separately by the police department (KPRC) and the district attorney's office (ABC13).

  • click2houston.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    department statement: 'The matter was resolved through an agreement requiring the individual to surrender'; 'peace officer license in lieu of criminal prosecution.'
  • abc13.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    spokesperson for the district attorney: 'subject to an agreement with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office'; 'no longer a licensed peace officer in the State of Texas'
Reported Neither the police department nor the district attorney's office would confirm whether the license surrender was related to the alleged Flock misuse, and the department has not released the investigative findings.

Causal attribution. The link between the Flock allegation and the license surrender has not been confirmed by any official source.

  • abc13.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Neither the Harris County District Attorney’s Office nor the Pasadena Police Department would confirm whether the surrender of'
  • click2houston.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'have not publicly released investigative findings detailing what led to the licensing agreement'
Reported The department said the administrative and criminal investigations arose from allegations made by two employees against one another, that both employees resigned before the administrative investigation finished, and that prosecutors declined prosecution in one of the two matters.

Causal attribution. The department's statement as published by FOX 26; it does not identify the second employee or say which matter was declined.

  • fox26houston.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    department statement: 'arising from allegations made by two employees against one another have been completed'; 'Both employees resigned prior to the completion of the administrative investigation'; 'In one matter, the District Attorney’s Office declined prosecution.'
Reported ABC13 reported from internal-affairs documents that the sergeant had been suspended indefinitely in March 2025 over the response to a female officer's harassment complaint, that the suspension was reduced to 30 days on appeal, and that the sergeant returned to duty in August 2025.

Causal attribution. ABC13's reading of internal-affairs documents. These earlier findings concern harassment, and the documents as reported do not mention Flock.

  • abc13.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'responded to the same officer reporting'; 'suspended indefinitely in March 2025'; 'modified to a 30-day suspension'; 'returned to the Pasadena Police Department in August 2025'
Reported In ABC13's 7 August report on the internal-affairs file, the former sergeant's attorney said the client disputes the allegations against the client and the former police chief's conclusions about the client's conduct, and declined to comment to KPRC on the license surrender.

Causal attribution. The attorney's response as reported.

Reported ABC13, which reviewed internal-affairs documents from the sergeant's file, reported that in May the department opened an investigation into the sergeant for potentially misusing Flock cameras.

Causal attribution. ABC13's own reporting; the article does not say whether this statement comes from the documents, and no official has confirmed the investigation's subject.

  • abc13.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'In May, the department opened an investigation into the sergeant for potentially misusing Flock cameras.'

Sources

6 sources inspected, from 3 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in full on 2026-10-03 (KPRC 2 Click2Houston, 10 July 2026, updated 27 August). Interview with the council member and the department's statement confirming the resignation; includes a Flock Safety description of its cameras. Police1 (16 July) relays this report and is not cited. Applies to s1.

Read in full on 2026-10-03 (ABC13 Houston/KTRK, 14 July 2026). Separate interview with the council member; carries the mayor's statement on when the investigation began. Applies to s2.

Read in full on 2026-10-03 (ABC13 Houston/KTRK; the page is dated 7 August 2026). Reports internal-affairs documents from the sergeant's file and the attorney's response. Applies to s3.

Read in full on 2026-10-03 (KPRC 2 Click2Houston, 10 August 2026, updated 27 August). Quotes the department's statement on the license surrender. Applies to s4.

Read in full on 2026-10-03 (ABC13 Houston/KTRK, 12 August 2026). Quotes the Harris County District Attorney's Office spokesperson. Applies to s5.

Read in full on 2026-10-03 (FOX 26 Houston, 12 August 2026). Full text of the department's 12 August statement and the council member's earlier remarks to FOX 26. Applies to s6.

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

The sergeant and the tracked officer both worked for the Pasadena Police Department in Pasadena, Texas (KPRC, ABC13, FOX 26 datelines and reports). No court proceeding is reported; the matter was resolved by an agreement with the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-03: Published as a contextual case (made_claim_about) consistent with the earlier officer-misuse rows for Flock license-plate readers: a council member says a police sergeant used the department's readers to track a fellow officer, the sergeant resigned during the investigation and later surrendered the Texas peace officer license in lieu of prosecution. The tracking account is an allegation. The sergeant has not been charged and is not named here; the tracked officer is not identified in any source.

People described

A female fellow officer at the Pasadena Police Department, Texas (not identified in any source)

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

The council member's allegation concerns one female officer (KPRC, ABC13, FOX 26). Documented minimum 1; the department's findings have not been released.

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

Tags

#flock-safety#alpr#police-misuse#texas#pasadena-texas#stalking-allegation#license-surrender

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Pasadena, Texas: a police sergeant accused by a city council member of using the department's Flock license-plate readers to track a female fellow officer resigned in July 2026 and surrendered the Texas peace officer license in lieu of prosecution; officials would not say whether the surrender related to the Flock allegation. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-pasadena-texas-police-sergeant-flock-alpr-misuse-fellow-officer

BibTeX

@misc{2026_pasadena_texas_police_sergeant_flock_alpr_misuse_fellow_officer,
  title = {Pasadena, Texas: a police sergeant accused by a city council member of using the department's Flock license-plate readers to track a female fellow officer resigned in July 2026 and surrendered the Texas peace officer license in lieu of prosecution; officials would not say whether the surrender related to the Flock allegation},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-pasadena-texas-police-sergeant-flock-alpr-misuse-fellow-officer}
}

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The James City County Police Department said on 30 September 2026 that Virginia State Police had charged a former officer with five felony and three misdemeanor counts of computer invasion of privacy and five misdemeanor counts of improper use of the automated license plate reader system by law enforcement (WTKR). The department says he used its Flock camera system for purposes related to an internal matter involving coworkers; Williamsburg Watch reports the county's announcement that he used the cameras to track coworkers. The department learned of the misuse in March 2026, when another employee raised concerns during an internal investigation, and the officer resigned on 17 April. He turned himself in and was released on unsecured bond. The coworkers are not identified and their number is not reported.

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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.

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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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According to an order of the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers' Standards and Training (KSCPOST) reported by the Wichita Eagle and KAKE in August 2024, the police chief of Sedgwick, Kansas, used the city's Flock Safety license-plate readers to check his ex-girlfriend's whereabouts 164 times between 24 June and 5 October 2023 and her new boyfriend's 64 times between 11 August and 10 October 2023, logging reasons such as missing child and drug investigation. The order says he also used his police vehicle to follow the two of them outside Sedgwick and on other occasions to keep tabs on them, and that he confronted the woman and told her to get back to town. He first said he was following them because of drug issues but admitted that jealousy was involved. He was placed on leave in October 2023 over unrelated misconduct allegations, admitted the Flock misuse during that investigation, and resigned on 20 October 2023. KSCPOST revoked his certification. The city administrator said the case did not appear sufficient for a criminal investigation, and no charges were filed. The city later cut back its Flock cameras.

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