From Futurism · Joe Wilkins · · 1m 20s
A cop ran 4,000 illegal plate searches
An Albany County investigator allegedly used Flock's camera network to track her ex 3,000 times.
In brief
An Albany County investigator allegedly used Flock's camera network to track her ex 3,000 times. License plate reader networks hand every officer a personal surveillance tool, and nobody was checking the logs until someone got caught. Originally reported by Futurism.
The backlash was not excessive
A veteran police investigator was arrested for running more than 4,000 unauthorized searches through Flock Safety's license plate reader system.
Five people, two years
Albany County Sheriff's senior investigator Laurie Moore was arrested Wednesday, accused of illegally querying five different subjects over roughly two years.
3,000 hits on an ex
One target was reportedly Moore's ex-girlfriend, whose plate was searched 3,000 separate times. Four other plates were queried hundreds of times each.
Two misdemeanors
Moore was suspended and charged with official misconduct and second-degree falsifying business records. A second unnamed employee is on administrative leave pending an internal review.
The sheriff is heartbroken
Craig Apple praised Moore even while announcing the arrest, a reminder that the person abusing the system is often the one nobody suspects.
“She was an outstanding investigator, one of my absolute best employees.”
227 cases and counting
The office cut Flock access for non-supervisory staff and added monthly Internal Affairs audits. Savannah police saw similar arrests, and the Institute for Justice has logged 227 US cases of ALPR abuse.
What it means
License plate reader networks hand every officer a personal surveillance tool, and nobody was checking the logs until someone got caught.
