The San Francisco Police Department discovered the abuse when an unnamed law enforcement agency reported that its license plate reader images had been shared on social media. After conducting an audit, SFPD internal affairs discovered that there had been Flock searches for the car\u2019s license plate.<\/p>\n
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SFPD was alerted to the issue by another agency. | Source: Courtesy SFPD<\/p>\n
The officer is alleged to have committed a number of policy violations, the report noted; the most serious involves conflict of interest in an investigation.<\/p>\n
The report did not say when or where the incident occurred or whether the officer faced disciplinary action.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Representatives of the SFPD and Flock did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Installed in San Francisco in March 2024, Flock cameras record license plates and provide descriptions of passing vehicles, which are saved for state authorities to sift through. The SFPD has said the database helps in the fight against crime, (opens in new tab)<\/a> but it\u2019s unclear how many cases have been aided by the camera system. Critics of the technology, who have likened it to Orwellian mass surveillance, have long claimed it can track people\u2019s movements and be abused by local and federal law enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis technology is incredibly sensitive and incredibly ripe for abuse. No matter how many legal or bureaucratic guardrails you put on those searches, officers are going to find a way to use it for their own personal reasons,\u201d said Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.<\/p>\n