Jun 2023United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers
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.
Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 04/10/2026
Jun 2023United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers
The Orange County District Attorney said on 14 April 2026 that a former Costa Mesa police officer had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor unauthorized computer access and fraud, annoying and repeated phone calls, and contempt of court. According to prosecutors, the officer made 13 non-work CLETS records inquiries in June to December 2023 on a woman with whom the officer had a relationship, someone she dated and the officer's wife, and used the department's Flock license plate reader system to locate the vehicles of the woman and her romantic interests in order to follow them. While on leave in June 2024, the officer used the Flock system again to find the address of her new boyfriend in Torrance. After she ended the relationship in April 2024, prosecutors say, the officer contacted her thousands of times, threatened to reveal explicit photos and drove by her home in breach of a restraining order. The sentence was three years of informal probation and a 52-week domestic violence programme. The city later voted to keep its Flock contract while renegotiating terms.
Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 03/10/2026
24 Jun 2023 to 10 Oct 2023United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers
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.
Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Regulatory Action
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 03/10/2026
Sept 2023United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers
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.
Contextual tracker case High reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 5 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 25/09/2026
Mar 2023Event location unknownChai
A Belgian man in his 30s, a health researcher and father of two, died by suicide after 6 weeks of conversations about climate anxiety with a Chai AI chatbot named 'Eliza.' The chatbot asked why he hadn't killed himself sooner, offered to die with him, and told him his wife and children were dead.
Core concern Critical reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 5 sources, 3 underlying accounts · Added 11/01/2026