{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-03T07:53:39.044Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"fort-bend-county","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"contextual","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":1,"languages":1,"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":"2024-katy-texas-former-police-officer-flock-alpr-tracked-ex-wife-stalking-indictment","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Flock license plate reader system to track his ex-wife between November 2024 and April 2025.'; 'placing a tracking device on his ex-wife’s vehicle.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'allegedly tracked his ex-wife'; 'location using Flock cameras and placed a tracking device on her vehicle, according to court records obtained by Houston Public Media.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Court documents stated it all started on or about November 2, 2024, and continued through April 2, 2025.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Two Fort Bend County indictments accuse a former Katy police officer of using the Katy Police Department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track his ex-wife between November 2024 and April 2025; the stalking indictment also accuses him of placing a tracking device on her vehicle.","causal_attribution":"Indictment allegations as reported; he has pleaded not guilty and no court has ruled."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Prosecutors allege the conduct caused his ex-wife to feel harassed, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed or offended.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The stalking indictment alleges that the conduct caused his ex-wife to feel harassed, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed or offended.","causal_attribution":"Allegation in the indictment, framed in the language of the stalking statute; the ex-wife's own account was not reported."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'first filed a formal complaint against him in October, alleging he was tracking her whereabouts.'; 'he was fired from the department and criminally charged after an investigation with the Fort Bend County District Attorney'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'had misused the Flock system to run his ex-wife'; 'Ironically, the Flock camera system that was abused is the same system that was used to bring formal charges against the officer.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'contacted the department in October 2025 and reported that she believed he was somehow tracking her whereabouts.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the Katy Police Department, his ex-wife complained in October 2025 that she believed he was tracking her whereabouts, and its investigation found he had misused the Flock system to run her vehicle's license plate; he was suspended, fired and referred to the Fort Bend County District Attorney.","causal_attribution":"Department statements as relayed by the outlets."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'is charged with stalking and misuse of official information, both third-degree felonies, according to Fort Bend County court records.'; 'from using law enforcement databases such as Flock license plate readers.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'has since pleaded not guilty.'; 'was released on a $30,000 bond by the end of the month under the condition he would have no contact with his ex-wife.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"He is charged with two third-degree felonies, stalking and misuse of official information; he was arrested in May 2026, released on bond with conditions barring contact with his ex-wife and use of law-enforcement databases such as Flock, and has pleaded not guilty.","causal_attribution":"Court records as reported; the defendant denies the charges."}],"effects":[{"label":"a woman's location was allegedly tracked by her ex-husband, a police officer, through police license-plate readers and a tracking device on her vehicle","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the indictment alleges the tracking caused her to feel harassed, alarmed and tormented","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2026/08/25/former-katy-police-officer-accused-of-using-flock-cameras-tracking-device-to-stalk-ex-wife/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-03 (KPRC 2/Click2Houston, 25 August 2026, updated 30 September 2026). Reports the two indictments and bond conditions from Fort Bend County court records, plus Katy police statements.","independence_group":"katy-fort-bend-court-records"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/police/2026/08/25/560301/flock-cameras-katy-police-officer/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-03 (Houston Public Media, 25 August 2026). Reports court records it obtained and a Katy police spokesperson's statement; treated as the same chain as KPRC 2 because both rest on the same court records and department statements.","independence_group":"katy-fort-bend-court-records"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://abc13.com/post/former-katy-police-officer-terminated-misusing-flock-cameras-track-ex-wife-months-pd-says/19735902/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-03 (ABC13 Houston, 25 August 2026). Relays the Katy Police Department release in full.","independence_group":"katy-fort-bend-court-records"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.fox26houston.com/news/former-katy-police-officer-charged-stalking-misuse-official-information-involving-flock-camera","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-10-03 (FOX 26 Houston, 25 August 2026). Relays the Katy Police Department release and court documents.","independence_group":"katy-fort-bend-court-records"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["privacy","justice","relationships"],"unknowns":["How many Flock searches were made and what the location records showed.","Whether the ex-wife was confronted or contacted using the tracked locations.","The outcome of the criminal cases."],"geography":{"basis":"The Katy Police Department's Flock system is in Katy, Texas, and the charges are in Fort Bend County court records (KPRC 2, Houston Public Media). The ex-wife's place of residence is not stated beyond the complaint to the Katy Police Department.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a contextual case (made_claim_about) consistent with earlier officer-misuse rows for Flock license-plate readers: two Fort Bend County indictments, reported from court records by KPRC 2 and Houston Public Media and confirmed by the Katy Police Department's release, accuse a former officer of tracking his ex-wife through the department's Flock readers and a tracking device. The charges are allegations and he has pleaded not guilty. The officer and his ex-wife are not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-03"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The indictments as reported by KPRC 2 and Houston Public Media accuse the former officer of using the Katy Police Department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track his ex-wife's location, and the Katy Police Department says its investigation found he ran her vehicle's plate in the Flock system. The automated readers generated the vehicle-location records about her car; the searches are recorded as the officer's own acts. The stalking indictment also alleges a separate tracking device, which is not treated as AI.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"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","summary":"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.","incidentDate":"2024-11-01","incidentEndDate":"2025-04-02","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-08-25","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader system used by the Katy Police Department, which the former officer is accused of searching to track his ex-wife's vehicle","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Prosecutors allege a former Katy police officer tracked his ex-wife's location through the department's Flock license-plate readers and a tracking device on her vehicle for about five months, causing her to feel harassed, alarmed and tormented (indictment as reported by KPRC 2); he has pleaded not guilty.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the former officer's ex-wife, named in the indictments as the person tracked (KPRC 2, Houston Public Media). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-TX","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"pending","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/police/2026/08/25/560301/flock-cameras-katy-police-officer/","primarySourceLabel":"Houston Public Media, 25 August 2026: Former Katy officer faces charges after allegedly using Flock cameras to track ex-wife","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-03T03:24:36.254118+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-03T03:24:36.254118+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","police-misuse","stalking","texas","katy","fort-bend-county","criminal-charges","made-claim-about"]},{"id":"2022-fort-bend-county-texas-sheriff-lieutenant-flock-alpr-plate-lookups-resident-stalking-complaint","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'when a resident filed a complaint, alleging the lieutenant was \"stalking\" them and that they were in fear for their family's safety.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."}],"effects":[{"label":"a resident complained that a sheriff's lieutenant was stalking them and said they feared for their family's safety","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"two license plates searched 189 times in a police license-plate-reader system over four years without an official purpose","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://abc13.com/post/fort-bend-county-sheriffs-office-lieutenant-admits-improper-use-flock-cameras-docs/19528986/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"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.","independence_group":"fort-bend-ia-documents"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["privacy","justice","relationships"],"unknowns":["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."],"geography":{"basis":"The sheriff's office is in Fort Bend County, Texas, and ABC13 describes the complainant as a resident; no court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"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.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-03"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"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.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"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)","summary":"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.","incidentDate":"2022-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-07-17","aiSystem":"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","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"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.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"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.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-TX","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"internal_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://abc13.com/post/fort-bend-county-sheriffs-office-lieutenant-admits-improper-use-flock-cameras-docs/19528986/","primarySourceLabel":"ABC13 Houston, 17 July 2026: Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office lieutenant admits to improper use of Flock cameras per docs","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-03T03:24:09.923569+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-03T03:24:09.923569+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","police-misuse","stalking","texas","fort-bend-county","internal-affairs","made-claim-about"]}]}