Two Reynoldsburg police officers have resigned following allegations that they improperly used the department’s Flock license plate reader system for searches unrelated to official police business.

Investigation Findings

Reynoldsburg Police Chief Curtis Baker said the department became aware of possible misuse of the Flock system by two officers within the past 45 days. Both officers resigned as internal reviews moved forward. One of the officers resigned after department records showed she allegedly searched the same license plate number 53 times over a six-month period.

According to records obtained, a department lieutenant conducted an audit of the city’s Flock system on July 2 and reported a possible policy violation involving the officer’s searches between January 2 and June 26. The listed reasons for the searches changed over time, with searches from January through April labeled as related to “larceny/theft offenses,” while searches in June were labeled “missing/endangered person/runaway.”

Department Response

Chief Baker said the department takes misuse of law enforcement technology seriously. “Earning and maintaining the trust of the public is of utmost importance to me,” Baker said in a statement. “The use of any police database or computer system, to include Flock Safety, for non-law enforcement purposes is serious and will not be tolerated within the Reynoldsburg Division of Police.”

Flock cameras use artificial intelligence-powered license plate recognition technology and are commonly used by law enforcement agencies to help locate suspects, stolen vehicles, and endangered missing people. It remains unclear whether either officer could face criminal charges, as Ohio does not have a specific criminal offense for misuse of Flock cameras.

Original reporting: WOWO News/Talk (Fort Wayne) — read the source article.