{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-03T07:45:00.839Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"internal-affairs","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2022","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":1,"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":"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"]}]}