Overview
- San Jose police say an officer used his personal phone to pull Flock automated license‑plate reader (ALPR) data and gave a vehicle location to a cousin accused of domestic violence, and the officer was fired after an internal probe.
- The department submitted the officer’s case to the State of California P.O.S.T. for a possible decertification that could bar him from future police work and announced monthly audits of ALPR access.
- City officials said neither the officer nor the cousin has been criminally charged, and investigators cited a gap in state law that does not clearly criminalize improper access to ALPR records.
- San Jose changed policy to block access to ALPR and other sensitive police systems from personal devices, and Flock has tightened its audit tools though privacy groups say oversight gaps remain.
- The episode has driven local contract cancellations and ongoing lawsuits over Flock cameras and raises the prospect of new state laws or rules to limit who can search retrospective vehicle‑location databases.