{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-04T08:07:59.325Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"usa-today-investigation","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","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":"2025-pinellas-county-florida-deputy-alpr-flock-300-plate-searches-woman-he-wanted-to-date-arrest","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'queried the agency’s automatic license plate reader database some 300 times to track the car of a woman he wanted to date'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'used license plate readers, including Flock, to track'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'license plate 300 times using automated license plate reader cameras, including those made by Flock'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'artificial intelligence helps categorize vehicles based on make, model, color and license plate'","relation":"context","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The sheriff said an audit showed the deputy had searched the woman's license plate 300 times in the sheriff's office's automated license-plate-reader system, which includes Flock cameras, to track the car of a woman he wanted to date.","causal_attribution":"The sheriff's account of the agency audit, reported by three outlets from the same news conference; not independent support. The deputy is charged, not convicted."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'queried the woman 381 times across five law enforcement databases between January 2025 and July 2026'; 'Of the 381 searches, 207 were conducted while'; 'The woman was not under investigation, and investigators found no legitimate law enforcement reason for the searches.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'queried the woman’s information 81 times in other databases'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'searched her plate 300 times between January 2025 and July 2026'","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Investigators found that the deputy queried the woman 381 times across five law enforcement databases between January 2025 and July 2026, 300 of them license-plate-reader searches and 81 in other databases, and that 207 of the 381 queries were made off duty; the woman was not under investigation and investigators found no legitimate law enforcement reason for the searches.","causal_attribution":"The sheriff's account. TCPalm attributes the 207 off-duty searches to the 300 plate searches, while the Tampa Bay Times and WFTS count them among all 381 queries; the record follows the latter and notes the discrepancy."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'for the plate of a 35-year-old woman he’d arrested in 2010'; 'admitted he wanted a relationship with the woman but that she had rebuffed his advances'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'He bought her jewelry and even put her and her mother up at a place in Indian Rocks Beach'; 'But she wanted to remain friends.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The deputy had arrested the woman in 2010; according to the sheriff he later wanted a relationship with her, and when questioned he admitted that she had rebuffed his advances. TCPalm reports that he bought her jewelry and put her and her mother up at a place in Indian Rocks Beach, but that she wanted to remain friends.","causal_attribution":"The sheriff's account of the deputy's admission and of the investigation; the woman's own account is not reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'start investigating until TCPalm asked Aug. 20 about abnormal Flock Safety searches by its personnel'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'about a large number of searches in the agency’s license plate readers database'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The audits were there, but we were not focusing on high quantity'; 'did not enter a case number for his searches'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The internal investigation began after a media inquiry: TCPalm reports that it asked the sheriff's office on 20 August 2026 about abnormal Flock Safety searches by its personnel, and the sheriff said the searches appeared in the office's audit logs but its audits were not focusing on high quantities of searches.","causal_attribution":"TCPalm's account of its own inquiry and the sheriff's statements."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'He faces four counts of unlawfully accessing a computer system and one count of official misconduct.'; 'Records show he was released after posting bond totaling $25,000.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'charged with four counts of unlawfully accessing a computer system and one count of official misconduct'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The deputy resigned on 11 September 2026 after supervisors questioned him; he was arrested on 30 September 2026, charged with four counts of unlawfully accessing a computer system and one count of official misconduct, and released after posting bond totaling $25,000.","causal_attribution":"The sheriff's announcement and court records as reported by the Tampa Bay Times; no court record was inspected."}],"effects":[{"label":"her car's license plate searched 300 times in the sheriff's office license-plate-reader system by a deputy who wanted to date her","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"queried 81 more times in other law enforcement databases without a law enforcement reason","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2026/09/30/pinellas-deputy-arrests-flock-license-plate-cameras-gualtieri/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 (live; byline Tony Marrero; 30 September 2026). The visible page is a teaser; the full article text was read from the page's embedded article body. Rests on the sheriff's news conference and court records.","independence_group":"pcso-news-conference-2026-09-30"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/2026/09/30/two-pinellas-county-sheriffs-deputies-arrested-for-flock-alpr-misuse-florida-license-plate-readers/92020401007/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 from the eu.tcpalm.com edition of the same article (the www and USA TODAY hosts answered 402). Byline Jack Lemnus. Its account of the deputy's searches rests on the sheriff's news conference; its own reporting covers the 20 August inquiry that prompted the audit.","independence_group":"pcso-news-conference-2026-09-30"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.tampabay28.com/news/region-pinellas/pinellas-sheriff-acknowledges-gaps-in-flock-style-camera-oversight-after-deputys-arrest","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 (live; WFTS Tampa Bay 28, Chad Mills; 30 September 2026). Rests on the sheriff's news conference; adds the station's own reading of the office's written license-plate-reader policy.","independence_group":"pcso-news-conference-2026-09-30"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["privacy","justice","relationships"],"unknowns":["Whether the woman knew of the searches or has described any effect on her.","Which vendor's cameras returned the plate reads.","Whether the 207 off-duty queries were license-plate-reader searches (TCPalm) or a share of all 381 queries (Tampa Bay Times; WFTS).","The prosecutor's charging decision and any court outcome."],"geography":{"basis":"The deputy served with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office in Florida, which searched its license-plate-reader system and arrested him (Tampa Bay Times; WFTS). The woman's residence is not stated; affected_person_countries US rests on her car being searched in the Florida sheriff's office's license-plate-reader system and on the 2010 arrest by the same deputy. The charges were brought in Florida.","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: the Pinellas County Sheriff says an audit showed a deputy searched a woman's license plate 300 times in the agency's license-plate-reader system, including Flock cameras, because he wanted to date her, and he has been arrested and charged. The automated readers generated the plate-read records; the misuse is recorded as a human act. Neither the deputy nor the woman is named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The sheriff, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times, TCPalm and WFTS, says an audit of the office's automated license-plate-reader system showed 300 searches of the woman's plate; TCPalm and WFTS report that the readers searched included Flock cameras. The Tampa Bay Times describes such cameras as photographing passing cars, with artificial intelligence helping to categorize vehicles by make, model, color and plate. The plate-read records about the woman's car were the system's output; the searches are recorded as the deputy's own acts. The 81 queries in other databases (FCIC, driver's license and records systems) are not treated as AI.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Pinellas County, Florida: a sheriff's deputy is accused of searching a woman's license plate 300 times in the agency's license-plate-reader system, including Flock cameras, because he wanted to date her; arrested and charged in September 2026","summary":"According to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, an audit showed that a deputy had searched a 35-year-old woman's license plate 300 times through the sheriff's office's automated license-plate-reader system, which includes Flock cameras, between January 2025 and July 2026. Investigators found 81 further queries about her in other law enforcement databases. The sheriff said the deputy had arrested the woman in 2010 and later wanted a relationship with her, and that when questioned he admitted making the searches for that reason; she had declined his advances. The woman was not under investigation. The sheriff said the searches came to light through a media inquiry, and TCPalm reports that it had asked the office on 20 August about abnormal Flock searches by its personnel. The deputy resigned on 11 September and was arrested on 30 September 2026 on four counts of unlawfully accessing a computer system and one count of official misconduct.","incidentDate":"2025-01-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-07-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-30","aiSystem":"Automated license-plate-reader systems searched by Pinellas County Sheriff's Office personnel, including Flock Safety cameras (TCPalm; WFTS); the office's written policy names LPR systems operated by Flock Safety, Axon and Motorola (WFTS)","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the Pinellas County Sheriff, a deputy who wanted to date the woman searched her car's license plate 300 times in the agency's license-plate-reader system, including Flock cameras, and queried her 81 more times in other databases, with no law enforcement reason; she had declined his advances. He is charged with unlawfully accessing a computer system and official misconduct.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the 35-year-old woman whose plate the deputy searched (sheriff, via Tampa Bay Times, TCPalm and WFTS). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-FL","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"pending","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2026/09/30/pinellas-deputy-arrests-flock-license-plate-cameras-gualtieri/","primarySourceLabel":"Tampa Bay Times, 30 September 2026: 2 Pinellas deputies arrested for tracking people they were interested in, sheriff says","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-04T03:29:59.229637+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:29:59.229637+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","police-misuse","unwanted-romantic-pursuit","florida","pinellas-county","tcpalm-usa-today-investigation","audit","made-claim-about"]},{"id":"2025-fort-pierce-florida-police-officer-flock-alpr-382-searches-ex-girlfriend-plate-arrest","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'accessed the Flock database 382 times to search the same license plate'; 'Most of the searches were made while he was off duty. Investigators determined the vehicle was registered to an ex-girlfriend.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'used the Flock database 382 times to search the same vehicle license plate'; 'although the Flock searches began in October 2025'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'searched his ex 382 times between February 2025 and this June'","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"According to the Fort Pierce police chief, the former officer used the department's Flock database 382 times between October 2025 and July 2026 to search the same license plate, mostly while off duty and without a legitimate law enforcement purpose, and investigators determined the vehicle was registered to his ex-girlfriend.","causal_attribution":"The police chief's account, relayed by two stations from the same news conference. TCPalm's own count matches (382) but gives a different period (February 2025 to June 2026); the record uses the police period and notes the difference."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'access involving the woman stretched back to 2023'; 'has been notified and is part of the case'; 'I think you can infer that he was tracking an ex-girlfriend.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The chief said records from other law enforcement databases showed the officer's access involving the woman stretched back to 2023, that the woman had been notified and is part of the case, and that one could infer the officer was tracking an ex-girlfriend.","causal_attribution":"The chief's statements at the news conference as reported by WPTV."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'she filed for a restraining order on Aug. 14, accusing'; 'of stalking and cyberstalking'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"TCPalm reports that it asked the woman about the searches on 3 August 2026 and that on 14 August she filed for a restraining order, accusing the officer of stalking and cyberstalking.","causal_attribution":"TCPalm's account; the filing was not inspected."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'members of the media contacted the department on Aug. 7'; 'was arrested on four felony counts related to unauthorized computer access'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'He was being held at the St. Lucie County Jail on $80,000 secured bond.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'inquired about his searches on Aug. 7'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The investigation began after the media contacted the department on 7 August 2026 about possible misuse of its Flock system; the officer was placed on administrative leave that day, resigned on 18 August, and was arrested on 8 September 2026 on four felony counts related to unauthorized computer access, held on an $80,000 secured bond.","causal_attribution":"The department's announcement; TCPalm confirms its own 7 August inquiry. No court record was inspected."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Only lieutenants and higher ranking officers can now use it'; 'The department also cut its data retention period from 30 days to seven days.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"After the arrest the department limited Flock access to lieutenants and above, required deputy-chief approval and a case number for each search, limited searches to forcible felony and missing or endangered person cases, and cut data retention from 30 days to seven days.","causal_attribution":"The department's statements as reported by CBS12."}],"effects":[{"label":"her license plate searched 382 times on the police Flock license-plate-reader database by her ex-boyfriend, a police officer","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"sought a restraining order accusing him of stalking and cyberstalking","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://cbs12.com/news/local/former-fort-pierce-officer-arrested-over-alleged-misuse-of-police-databases-fort-pierce-police-department-fort-pierce-former-police-officer-former-officer-arrested-police-arrest-database-misuse-police-database-database-systems-law-enforcement","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 (live; CBS12/WPEC, 8 September 2026, updated 9 September). Rests on the Fort Pierce Police Department's announcement and the chief's news conference.","independence_group":"fppd-news-conference-2026-09-08"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.wptv.com/news/local-news/our-community/fort-pierce/former-fort-pierce-police-officer-arrested-for-alleged-misuse-of-police-database-systems","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 (live; WPTV, 8 September 2026). Reports the chief's news conference, including his answers to reporters.","independence_group":"fppd-news-conference-2026-09-08"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/florida/2026/09/10/florida-flock-camera-abuse-prompts-fort-pierce-police-officer-arrest-usat-investigation/91673033007/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04 from the eu.tcpalm.com edition of the same article (10 September 2026). Its own analysis of Flock audit logs, its inquiry to the department and to the woman, and the restraining-order filing; also relays the chief's news conference.","independence_group":"usat-tcpalm-flock-investigation"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["privacy","justice","relationships"],"unknowns":["The period of the Flock searches (police: October 2025 to July 2026; TCPalm: February 2025 to June 2026).","Whether the restraining order was granted.","The woman's own account of the effect of the searches.","Any court outcome."],"geography":{"basis":"The officer served with the Fort Pierce Police Department in St. Lucie County, Florida, whose Flock database he searched; he was arrested and held at the St. Lucie County Jail (CBS12; WPTV). The woman's residence is not stated; affected_person_countries US rests on her vehicle being searched in the Florida department's system and on her restraining-order petition (TCPalm). The case is in Florida.","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: the Fort Pierce police chief says a former officer searched his ex-girlfriend's license plate 382 times on the department's Flock license-plate-reader database without a law enforcement purpose, he has been arrested, and TCPalm reports she sought a restraining order. The automated readers generated the plate-read records; the misuse is recorded as a human act. Neither the officer nor the woman is named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Fort Pierce police chief, as reported by CBS12 and WPTV, says the officer used the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader database 382 times to search a vehicle registered to his ex-girlfriend, and TCPalm's analysis of Flock audit logs found the same count. CBS12 describes Flock cameras as license plate readers that help identify vehicles. The plate-read records about the woman's vehicle were the system's output; the searches are recorded as the officer's own acts. The FCIC/NCIC, DAVID and TLO searches are not treated as AI. The sources do not describe the readers as AI.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Fort Pierce, Florida: a former police officer is arrested after investigators say he searched his ex-girlfriend's license plate 382 times on the department's Flock license-plate-reader system without a law enforcement purpose","summary":"According to Fort Pierce Police Chief David Smith, a former officer of the Fort Pierce Police Department used the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader database 382 times between October 2025 and July 2026 to search the same license plate, mostly while off duty and without a legitimate law enforcement purpose, and investigators determined the vehicle was registered to his ex-girlfriend. The chief said records from other law enforcement databases showed the officer's access involving the woman stretched back to 2023. The department opened its investigation after a TCPalm reporter asked on 7 August 2026 about the searches; the officer was placed on leave that day and resigned on 18 August. TCPalm reports that the woman filed for a restraining order on 14 August, accusing him of stalking and cyberstalking. He was arrested on 8 September 2026 on four felony counts related to unauthorized computer access and held on an $80,000 bond. The charges are allegations.","incidentDate":"2025-10-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-07-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-08","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader database of the Fort Pierce Police Department, which the officer searched through his police access (Fort Pierce police chief, as reported by CBS12, WPTV and TCPalm)","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the Fort Pierce police chief, the woman's license plate was searched 382 times on the department's Flock license-plate-reader database by her ex-boyfriend, a police officer, mostly off duty and without a law enforcement purpose; TCPalm reports she sought a restraining order accusing him of stalking and cyberstalking. He is charged with unauthorized computer access.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the officer's ex-girlfriend, whose vehicle's plate was searched (Fort Pierce police chief via CBS12 and WPTV; TCPalm). The other people looked up in non-AI databases are not counted. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-FL","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"pending","primarySourceUrl":"https://cbs12.com/news/local/former-fort-pierce-officer-arrested-over-alleged-misuse-of-police-databases-fort-pierce-police-department-fort-pierce-former-police-officer-former-officer-arrested-police-arrest-database-misuse-police-database-database-systems-law-enforcement","primarySourceLabel":"CBS12 (WPEC), 8 September 2026: Ex-Fort Pierce officer accused of using Flock database 382 times to track ex-girlfriend","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-04T03:25:49.473488+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:25:49.473488+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","police-misuse","ex-partner","stalking","florida","fort-pierce","st-lucie-county","usa-today-investigation","restraining-order","made-claim-about"]}]}