{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-04T08:05:13.130Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"audit","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2023","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":1,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":2,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2023-covington-georgia-police-detective-flock-alpr-tracked-co-worker-fired","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'he had tracked a female co-worker 41 times since January, an internal affairs report shows'; 'a woman he used to date, who also works for Covington police'; 'also searched the tags of that woman’s new boyfriend'; 'and a second ex-dating partner'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A Covington Police Department internal review found that the detective used Flock to search the license plate of a woman he used to date, who also works for Covington police, 41 times since January 2026, and also searched the plates of her new boyfriend, another Covington detective, and of a second former dating partner; Flock's Audit Assistance feature flagged his activity in July 2026.","causal_attribution":"USA TODAY's account of the internal review; the review itself was not inspected."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'license plate 2,890 times from June 2023 to October 2025'; 'nearly every day for 14 months straight'; 'as many as 41 times in one day, usually between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"USA TODAY's analysis of publicly released Flock audit logs found that the detective searched the woman's plate 2,890 times from June 2023 to October 2025, nearly every day for 14 months and as many as 41 times in one day, usually between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.","causal_attribution":"USA TODAY's own analysis of the audit logs; not independently replicated."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'planted a tracking device on her vehicle'; 'He repeatedly showed up unannounced, she said, and seemed to know every place she had been'; 'she said she was in shock'; 'I’m really scared'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The woman told USA TODAY she had suspected a tracking device on her vehicle because he repeatedly showed up unannounced and seemed to know every place she had been, and that when told the number of searches in early August she was in shock and scared.","causal_attribution":"The woman's own account to USA TODAY; she was not named."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'referring him to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for an independent criminal investigation'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'has been fired and arrested after an internal audit uncovered'; 'the Covington Police Department notified the Georgia Bureau of Investigation of its findings'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'requested the GBI to investigate allegations of misuse of the Covington Police Department Flock Safety System'; 'accessed the Flock Safety System for non-law enforcement purposes'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Covington Police Department fired the detective and asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on 6 August 2026 to investigate misuse of its Flock Safety system; the GBI says preliminary information indicates he accessed the system for non-law enforcement purposes.","causal_attribution":"The firing is reported by USA TODAY; the referral date and preliminary finding are the GBI's statement. Not a court finding."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'with Misuse of a License Plate Reader System and one count of Violation of Oath of Office'; 'was arrested on August 26, 2026, and was booked into the Newton County Jail'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The GBI says it arrested the former officer on 26 August 2026 and charged him with misuse of a license plate reader system and one count of violation of oath of office.","causal_attribution":"The arresting agency's own release documents the arrest and charges; the allegations are unproven."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'with five counts of violation of oath by a public officer and other offenses'; 'He has not entered a plea.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"USA TODAY reports that he was charged on 27 August 2026 with five counts of violation of oath by a public officer and other offenses and had not entered a plea.","causal_attribution":"USA TODAY's account; the count differs from the GBI release (one count of violation of oath), and no charging document was inspected."}],"effects":[{"label":"her car plate searched thousands of times on the Flock license-plate-reader system by a detective she used to date","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"suspected she was being tracked and was scared when told the number of searches","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/08/28/flock-camera-investigation-police-arrested-fired-surveillance/91383586007/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 from the eu.usatoday.com edition of the same article (28 August 2026). Rests on a Covington police internal review obtained by public records request, USA TODAY's own analysis of audit logs and an interview with the woman.","independence_group":"usatoday-flock-analysis"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://gbi.georgia.gov/press-releases/2026-08-27/gbi-arrests-former-covington-police-department-officer-misuse-license","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 (live). The release names the officer and charges and does not describe the woman or the number of searches.","independence_group":"covington-pd-gbi-statements"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/newton-county/covington-cop-fired-after-investigation-into-flock-technology-system/TS432ZDBYJCGXBLVNUMI74AI2E/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 from an Internet Archive capture of 28 August 2026 (the live site answered 451 to this host). Relays the police department and GBI; does not describe the woman.","independence_group":"covington-pd-gbi-statements"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["privacy","justice","work","relationships"],"unknowns":["The number of violation-of-oath counts: the GBI release says one, USA TODAY says five.","Whether the searches continued between October 2025 and January 2026, and when they stopped.","Whether the new boyfriend or the second former partner has described any effect of the searches.","The court handling the charges and any outcome."],"geography":{"basis":"The detective served with the Covington Police Department in Newton County, Georgia, and the woman is a Covington police employee (USA TODAY). The GBI arrested him in Covington and booked him into the Newton County Jail; the charges are Georgia charges.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional privacy and safety case, consistent with the held Flock officer-misuse rows: USA TODAY reports a police internal review and its own audit-log analysis showing a Covington detective searched a co-worker's plate thousands of times, with her account of the effect, and the GBI release documents his arrest and charges. The automated readers generated the plate-read records; the misuse is recorded as a human act. Neither the detective nor the woman is named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"USA TODAY and the GBI say the detective searched the woman's plate on the Covington Police Department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader system, and USA TODAY says Flock's Audit Assistance feature flagged his activity. The plate-read records about the woman's car were the system's output; the searches are recorded as the detective's own acts. The sources do not describe the readers as AI.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Covington, Georgia: a police detective is fired and charged after an internal review finds he searched a co-worker's plate 41 times on the Flock license-plate-reader system; USA TODAY's analysis of Flock logs counts 2,890 searches from June 2023","summary":"A Covington Police Department internal review, obtained by USA TODAY, found that a detective had searched the license plate of a woman he used to date, a Covington police employee, 41 times on the Flock license-plate-reader system since January 2026, after Flock's audit tool flagged his activity in July. He also searched the plates of her new boyfriend and of a second former partner. USA TODAY's analysis of audit logs found 2,890 searches of the woman's plate from June 2023 to October 2025, nearly every day for 14 months. The woman told USA TODAY she had suspected a tracking device on her car because he showed up unannounced and seemed to know where she had been, and that she was scared when told the full number in early August. The department fired the detective and referred him to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which arrested him on 26 August 2026 and charged him with misuse of a license plate reader system and violation of oath.","incidentDate":"2023-06-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-08-27","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader system used by the Covington Police Department, which the detective searched through his police access; its Audit Assistance feature flagged his activity (USA TODAY; GBI news release)","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to USA TODAY's analysis of Flock audit logs and a police internal review, a detective searched the car plate of a co-worker he used to date thousands of times over more than two years; she told USA TODAY she had suspected she was being tracked and was scared when told the extent. He is charged with misuse of a license plate reader system.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":3,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"The internal review, as reported by USA TODAY, says the detective searched the plates of the woman he used to date, her new boyfriend and a second former dating partner: three people. Only the first woman's search count and reported effects are described. documented_minimum 3; other plates the logs may contain are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-GA","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"pending","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/08/28/flock-camera-investigation-police-arrested-fired-surveillance/91383586007/","primarySourceLabel":"USA TODAY, 28 August 2026: Our Flock camera investigation sparks police firings, arrests","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-04T03:30:17.504223+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:30:17.504223+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","police-misuse","former-partner","co-worker","georgia","covington","newton-county","made-claim-about"]},{"id":"2026-indianapolis-impd-officers-flock-alpr-misuse-stalking-charges","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'On Sept. 23, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office filed formal charges against the five individuals. In addition to fraud and misconduct, one officer faces charges of stalking.'; 'Internal audits in August and Sept. 2026 identified the misuse of automatic license plate reader (ALPR) technology.'; 'As more facts came to light, Terry suspended the four remaining officers and recommended they be fired.'; 'One officer later resigned, though the investigation into their conduct continued.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Four suspended officers and one former officer with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) were accused of fraud and official misconduct after reportedly misusing automatic license plate reader (ALPR) technology.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'On Sept. 23, Mears announced the charges against the five officers at a news conference.'; 'received 26 counts, including 12 counts of fraud and two counts of stalking.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 23 September 2026 the Marion County Prosecutor's Office charged four suspended IMPD officers and one former officer with fraud and official misconduct, and one of them with two counts of stalking, after internal audits in August and September 2026 identified misuse of the department's automated license-plate-reader system; the chief suspended four and recommended their dismissal and one resigned.","causal_attribution":"Prosecutor's announcement and IMPD statements as reported."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Prosecutors identified 1,396 ALPR searches'; 'began to search her license plate in Flock just nine days later.'; 'created a Facebook account with a fake name to message her.'; 'also used Flock cameras to stalk two other women: his ex-wife and a woman he met at her place of employment in Greenwood, according to the probable cause affidavit.'; 'He told the woman he was an FBI agent and that he was conducting surveillance in the parking lot.'; 'conducted unauthorized surveillance of 11 individuals: seven women and four men, according to the probable cause affidavit.'; 'used the Flock camera system to search for two different license plates, one being his ex-wife’s, between April 2024 and April 2025.'; 'made 1,616 searches, according to the probable cause affidavit.'; 'He used another officer’s credentials to conduct the searches.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to prosecutors, the probable cause affidavit and court documents as reported by WISH-TV, one officer made 1,396 searches with no apparent law-enforcement purpose and used the system to stalk a woman he met at a workout class in September 2023 (searching her plate nine days later and messaging her from a Facebook account under a false name), his ex-wife and a woman he met at her workplace (telling her he was an FBI agent), conducting unauthorised surveillance of 11 people, seven women and four men; another officer made 1,616 searches for two plates, one his ex-wife's, between April 2024 and April 2025 using another officer's credentials.","causal_attribution":"Probable cause affidavit as quoted by WISH-TV; not inspected directly. Allegations in untried cases."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'IMPD discovered the alleged misuse after one officer self-reported, according to Terry. After that, an audit revealed officers allegedly misused the database for thousands of searches.'; 'We still have about 301 cameras that IMPD leases as a use of part of our system,'; 'Each individual count is associated with a license plate, meaning that whether or not an officer is alleged to have searched a license plate 10 times, or 100 times, or even 1,000 times, that will be one individual count of fraud,'; 'Through a shared network, IMPD can access thousands of cameras across the country.'; 'IMPD has no plans to reduce the number of Flock cameras it leases.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Every user must now sign the policy to keep access. All searches must also include a case or incident number and a federal offense code.'; 'adopted a single login system to prevent shared credentials.'; 'IMPD also increased auditing to find misuse faster'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"IMPD discovered the misuse after one officer self-reported and an audit followed; the prosecutor said each count corresponds to one license plate regardless of how many times it was searched; the department leases about 301 Flock cameras, can search a shared national network, has required a signed policy, case numbers, single logins and more audits, and will not reduce its cameras.","causal_attribution":"Chief's and prosecutor's statements as reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The department learned of the behavior on Aug. 6 and immediately stripped the officer of police powers.'; 'Terry told Indiana’s I-Team that the officer accessed the Flock camera system hundreds of times to monitor a small group of license plates that had no connection to any official investigation.'; 'The police department is auditing its records to ensure no other officers are abusing the system.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"On 13 August 2026 the chief recommended firing an officer who had accessed the Flock system hundreds of times to monitor a small group of plates with no connection to an investigation, which the department learned of on 6 August 2026; an audit of other officers' use followed.","causal_attribution":"Chief's statements to WISH-TV's I-Team."}],"effects":[{"label":"at least 12 people had their vehicle movements searched in a police license-plate-reader system without a law-enforcement purpose, one of them as part of stalking with contact under a false identity","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.wishtv.com/news/crime-watch-8/4-suspended-1-former-impd-officer-charged-after-license-plate-reader-audit/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en-US","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (WISH-TV, Kendall Pierson, 23 September 2026; html lang=en-US). Reports the charges and quotes the probable cause affidavit.","independence_group":"impd-prosecutor-announcement"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.wthitv.com/2026/09/23/five-officers-charged-after-indiana-police-department-finds-alpr-technology-misuse/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (WNDU report carried by WTHI, 23 September 2026). Same charges; notes one officer's identity withheld because the warrant is sealed.","independence_group":"impd-prosecutor-announcement"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.wvxu.org/2026-09-24/five-indianapolis-police-officers-charged-for-misusing-flock-cameras","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (WFYI Public Media report carried by WVXU, Zak Cassel, 24 September 2026). Prosecutor's news conference, the chief's interview, camera numbers and policy changes.","independence_group":"impd-prosecutor-announcement"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://gizmodo.com/five-indianapolis-cops-charged-with-misusing-flock-cameras-including-one-case-of-stalking-2000816822","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en-US","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (Gizmodo, 24 September 2026). Summary of the charges relying on The Washington Post's reporting and IMPD's statement posted on X; adds no independent chain (same independence group).","independence_group":"impd-prosecutor-announcement"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.wishtv.com/news/i-team/chief-recommends-firing-impd-officer-who-misused-license-plate-readers/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en-US","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (WISH-TV I-Team, Tim Spears and John Herrick, 13 August 2026, updated 23 September). Background: the first officer's misuse, learned of on 6 August 2026, and the audit.","independence_group":"impd-prosecutor-announcement"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["privacy","public_services","relationships"],"unknowns":["Who the people searched by the other three charged officers were and how many there were; the read reports give countable descriptions only for two officers' targets. Gizmodo, citing The Washington Post, says the officer who resigned searched information on relatives of her spouse's former partner, without giving a number.","What consequences the tracked people experienced beyond the surveillance and, in one case, unwanted contact; the woman met at the workout class is reported to have believed the officer was obsessed with her.","Whether the fifth officer's identity is public: WNDU says one warrant is sealed while other outlets name all five.","The outcome of the charges and of the recommended dismissals.","Whether The Washington Post's reporting, credited by the prosecutor, identified further cases.","When the last unauthorised search occurred; the reports date one officer's searches to April 2024-April 2025 and the audits to August and September 2026."],"geography":{"basis":"Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's Flock system in Marion County, Indiana; the tracked people were met in central Indiana (a workout class at a high school and a workplace in Greenwood, Indiana, per WISH-TV); charges filed by the Marion County Prosecutor's Office (WISH-TV, WFYI).","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional privacy and safety case in which an automated license-plate-reader system's records about identifiable people were misused by police officers for stalking and personal surveillance, documented by criminal charges announced by the Marion County Prosecutor and the probable cause affidavit as quoted by WISH-TV, with four local and national reports relaying the same chain. Claims are recorded as reported (the affidavit was not inspected). The tracked people are unnamed; the charged officers are not named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-25"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The prosecutor and IMPD attribute the searches to the Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader system, whose cameras photograph plates and whose software logs them to a searchable database (WFYI/WVXU); the officers queried the system's records about identifiable people's vehicles. The automated readers generated the location records; the misuse is recorded as human acts.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Indianapolis: five current and former police officers were charged on 23 September 2026 with fraud and official misconduct, one also with stalking, after audits found thousands of Flock automated license-plate-reader searches with no law-enforcement purpose, including one officer's tracking of 11 people (seven women and four men) and another's 1,616 searches that included his ex-wife's plate (WISH-TV, WNDU, WFYI/WVXU, Gizmodo)","summary":"On 23 September 2026 the Marion County Prosecutor's Office charged four suspended Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) officers and one former officer with fraud and official misconduct after internal audits in August and September 2026 found misuse of the department's Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader (ALPR) system; one officer was also charged with two counts of stalking. According to prosecutors, the probable cause affidavit and court documents as reported by WISH-TV, that officer made 1,396 searches with no apparent law-enforcement purpose, began searching the plate of a woman he met at a workout class in September 2023 nine days after meeting her and messaged her from a Facebook account under a false name, also tracked his ex-wife and a woman he met at her workplace (telling her he was an FBI agent), and in total conducted unauthorised surveillance of 11 people, seven women and four men. Another officer made 1,616 searches between April 2024 and April 2025 for two plates, one his ex-wife's, using another officer's credentials. The chief placed the officers on desk duty, revoked their ALPR access, suspended four and recommended their dismissal; one resigned. The department said the misuse came to light after an officer self-reported and an audit followed; the prosecutor said each count corresponds to one license plate. IMPD, which leases about 301 Flock cameras and can search a shared national network, has since required every user to sign its ALPR policy, tied each search to a case number, adopted single logins and increased audits, and said it will not reduce its cameras.","incidentDate":"2023-09-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-23","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license plate readers: camera stations that photograph plates and software that logs them to a searchable database (IMPD leases about 301 cameras and can search a shared national network)","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"At least 12 people, including two officers' ex-wives and a woman an officer met at a workout class, had their vehicle movements searched in the police license-plate-reader system without a law-enforcement purpose, in one case as part of stalking that included contact under a false identity; the surveillance is documented in the charging affidavit as reported by WISH-TV and the prosecutor's announcement. No physical harm is reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":12,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"WISH-TV, citing the probable cause affidavit: one officer 'conducted unauthorized surveillance of 11 individuals: seven women and four men'; a second officer searched two plates, 'one being his ex-wife's' (one identified person; the other plate's owner is not described). Documented minimum 12, treating the second officer's ex-wife as distinct from the first officer's 11 (the reports do not say otherwise). The people searched by the other three officers are not counted because no read report gives a number for them (Gizmodo, citing The Washington Post, describes one officer's targets only as relatives of her spouse's former partner).","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.wishtv.com/news/crime-watch-8/4-suspended-1-former-impd-officer-charged-after-license-plate-reader-audit/","primarySourceLabel":"WISH-TV, 23 September 2026: 4 suspended, 1 former IMPD officer charged after license plate reader audit","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-25T03:54:28.345739+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:40.156452+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","police","stalking","privacy","indianapolis","indiana","criminal-charges","institutional-use","made-claim-about"]}]}