By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- A San Jose Police Department officer was fired after using his personal phone to access the department’s Flock automated license plate reader system and share a vehicle’s location with his cousin.
- The cousin, a suspect in a domestic violence case, used the location data to track down the alleged victim.
- The officer’s case has been submitted to California POST for a decertification investigation; no criminal charges have been filed.
- Police Chief Paul Joseph said the violation of public trust meant the officer could no longer serve in a position of police authority.
- Since the incident, the department has barred officers from accessing the ALPR system on personal devices and has begun testing auditing tools to flag misuse.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A San Jose Police Department officer has been fired after sharing automated license plate reader data with a relative who was a suspect in a domestic violence case, according to ABC7.
The officer used his personal phone to access the department’s Flock camera system and provided a vehicle’s location to his cousin, who had been identified as a suspect in the case. The cousin then used that information to track down the person who had accused him, according to the report.
The officer was terminated, and his case has been submitted to the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training for a decertification investigation. No criminal charges have been filed.
“When an officer violates the public’s trust this severely, my responsibility is clear: that person cannot remain in a position of police authority, and they cannot wear the San Jose badge,” Police Chief Paul Joseph said in a statement. “This technology is new; the standard is not.”
Since the incident, the department has updated its policy to prohibit officers from accessing the ALPR system through personal devices and has begun testing auditing tools designed to flag misuse of the technology.