New Bedford cop accused of stalking ex-girlfriend with Flock cameras
New Bedford police officer accused of using Flock cameras to track ex-partner
A New Bedford police officer, Emily Pacheco, has been accused by her ex-girlfriend of using Flock license plate readers to track and follow her after their breakup. The ex-girlfriend obtained an abuse prevention order, and Pacheco was placed on administrative leave. The police department has temporarily suspended its use of Flock cameras pending a review of all past use. This incident highlights concerns about police misuse of surveillance technology, with the ACLU calling for stronger oversight.
The department’s memorandum of understanding, which all officers must sign before using the system, expressly forbids personal use or use to harass or intimidate any person.
- duxup
I don't understand why a regular patrol officer would / should even have access to something like this without some level of extra authorization. They're not detectives running an open investigation ...
In this case this officer was searching numerous networks over and over again, that alone should trigger some metrics that raise the question "uh ... why?"
- infinite_spin
At this point I think it's necessary to notify anyone who has been tracked after a fixed number of days, unless a court order is used to extend that period. An officer using this for legitimate reasons should have few problems getting that court order. This would at least give people some amount of safety net from stalking by LE.
- King-Aaron
It was only about an hour ago I saw yet another mindless commentator on one of these threads saying "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about".
- thangalin
https://i.ibb.co/WWWYznHX/flock-future.png
;-)
See also: https://dave.autonoma.ca/blog/2019/06/06/web-of-knowledge/
- My_Name
As an observer from another country, it is increasingly obvious that America can no longer call itself 'The Land of the Free' unironically.
In my view it is closer to a police state.