New records reveal details of Deer Park PD officer's alleged Flock camera misuse and punishment
DEER PARK, Texas (KTRK) -- A month after ABC13 reported that a Deer Park Police Department officer was disciplined for allegedly misusing Flock camera systems, new documents reveal details regarding the officer's behavior.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Deer Park officer disciplined after misusing Flock cameras, department says
The officer was given a 10-day suspension for using the license plate reading system for personal reasons, according to police records obtained by ABC13 following an internal investigation.
ABC13 is not naming the detective because he was not criminally charged in connection with the alleged misuse. Deer Park PD said the matter was handled internally.
According to the records, the detective used Flock to search license plates 165 times over a seven-month period, from December through June.
The searches were not connected to police investigations, the records show.
The detective was suspended for 10 days, reassigned from the Criminal Investigations Division to patrol, and had access to several police databases restricted as a result of the investigation.
The records say the detective eventually admitted to the misuse, acknowledging that the searches were based on "personal concerns" and that using the system was contrary to department policy.
Flock cameras use automated license plate recognition technology to capture images of vehicles and their license plates. Law enforcement agencies can use the technology to help investigate crimes and locate vehicles associated with those investigations.
Michael Martinez, who works near one of Deer Park's Flock cameras, said he was concerned to learn a police detective had used the system for personal reasons.
"I'm both surprised and not surprised it happened here," Martinez said. "I didn't even know that Flock camera was right there."
Martinez said the incident raises questions about how the technology can be used and who has access to the information it collects.
"Just knowing that thing exists now, it makes me feel like I'm in a surveillance state now," he said. "I ride in every time I come to work so they see me all the time."
According to the records, prosecutors in Harris and Fort Bend counties determined the detective's actions did not rise to the level of a criminal investigation.
The records show prosecutors did not believe the detective had misused Flock to benefit himself or anyone else. The matter was instead handled internally by the department.
Martinez said he believes the punishment was not sufficient.
"Ten days, not enough. That's not enough time," he said.
He compared the alleged searches to stalking and questioned whether a 10-day suspension was an adequate consequence.
ABC13 reached out to Deer Park police multiple times to ask about the detective's current employment status. The department had not responded as of publication.
The internal records do not indicate that the detective was accused of using the Flock system for financial gain.
The news comes amid rising scrutiny of officers misusing Flock cameras, including several cases involving Houston-area law enforcement agencies. Baytown and Pasadena have announced that officers have been investigated for misuse of Flock cameras.
In Fort Bend County, a sheriff's deputy was suspended for looking up the same person's plate 41 times and another person's plate 148 times.
Read more on ABC13's continued coverage regarding Flock cameras here.
