Milwaukee police are investigating an officer for potential misuse of Flock, the controversial network of cameras that tracks license plates, but believe it not to be criminal in nature.
A Milwaukee Police Department spokesperson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Aug. 18 it opened an investigation into an officer for a single “outlying use” of the Flock system last week, but could not provide further information due to the ongoing investigation.
“MPD does not believe that this use is criminal in nature at this time and the internal investigation seeks to assess whether the officer’s use of the system violated [the department’s Flock policy],” the spokesperson said in an email.
The investigation marks the third time a department member has been investigated for misuse.
Those prior incidents resulted in criminal charges. They included a former officer pleading guilty to tracking someone he was dating more than 120 times and, later, allegations against the detective who investigated the first officer. Police say the detective, who worked in internal affairs, misused Flock to track someone 17 times.
That detective was charged with a felony in that situation and his court case remains ongoing.
Milwaukee’s instances of misuse come as dozens of complaints nationwide and others in Wisconsin have prompted Flock Safety, the company which sells and operates the cameras and accompanying system, to implement new guardrails on how it is used. Many of those changes – things like reduced data retention periods and changes to how much data is shared across agencies – remain up to the decision of local law enforcement agencies to decide.
Milwaukee police officials are still determining how they will respond to the company’s changes, but said Aug. 18 it was in discussion with Flock Safety regarding shortening its retention period from 30 days to seven days.
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee police investigate third officer for Flock misuse
Reporting by David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
