A San Jose police officer has been fired after using the department's Flock licence plate recognition database to track a woman who had accused his cousin of domestic violence, and then sharing the information with that cousin. The officer, who had served with the department for about two years, was dismissed in April following an investigation that lasted roughly a year. No criminal charges were filed against either man.
Chief Paul Joseph disclosed the case on 11 September, telling The Mercury News that the officer used his personal phone to retrieve vehicle information from the Flock system and passed it to his cousin. The investigation began in February 2025 after the woman told police that the man she had accused of abuse had indicated he knew where she was. Aware that his cousin was a police officer, she reported her suspicions. Investigators checked the Flock records and found the unauthorised access, which had left an audit trail.
«What we have here is a betrayal of the public's trust. Plain and simple,» Joseph said. He declined to identify the officer, citing personnel protections and the absence of prosecution. There is also no word on whether the individual ultimately lost their Peace Officer Certification, meaning it is plausible they could be back on another squad in California already.
The case has highlighted a gap in California law that the chief says complicated any prosecution. Restrictions that criminalise improper access to certain confidential criminal databases do not currently extend to automatic licence plate reader data in the same way, Joseph said, and he has asked lawmakers to expressly criminalise unauthorised access and disclosure of such information.
Flock Safety, the company behind the camera network, has changed its audit log to make it far harder for the public to track down cases of misuse and abuse like this one. The searches in this case did leave a record, but the investigation only began because the woman recognised something was wrong and spoke up. Catching misuse after the fact matters, yet for the person whose whereabouts have already been shared with an alleged abuser, that protection arrives awfully late.
Licence plate cameras give police a powerful way to find vehicles, but the person using that power can have an agenda of their own. The episode raises questions about oversight of ALPR systems at a time when such networks are under increasing scrutiny. The officer's dismissal stops short of criminal accountability, and the chief's call for legislative change suggests the rules governing database access have not kept pace with the technology.