A sheriff's investigator in Albany, New York, is the latest law enforcement officer accused of turning Flock cameras into a personal tracking tool. Authorities say Laurie Moore, a senior investigator who has been with the Albany County Sheriff's Office for 13 years, used the license plate cameras to run her ex-girlfriend's plate nearly 3,000 times over more than a year, along with searches on four other acquaintances, none tied to any case, ABC News reports. Moore, 47, has been charged with falsifying business records and official misconduct and suspended indefinitely, Sheriff Craig Apple said Wednesday.
"The public places tremendous trust in law enforcement and in our ability to use these tools responsibly. What happened here is a breach of that trust, and for that I am truly sorry," the sheriff said. "It literally breaks my heart," he said, per the Times Union, calling the arrest "a gut punch" because Moore was an "outstanding investigator." Apple said that after his office received a tip last week that Moore was tracking a former acquaintance, an internal investigation found she had carried out hundreds of unauthorized searches this year. Going further back, they found a total of around 4,000 unauthorized searches.
Investigators say she entered bogus justifications into the system, which requires users to document a case reason. A supervisor was placed on administrative leave in connection with the investigation. The sheriff's office has now limited Flock access to supervisors, with monthly audits to be carried out by an undersheriff or chief, People reports. Despite Moore's alleged misuse of the system, the latest in a long line of similar reported abuses by law enforcement officers nationwide, Apple defended Flock cameras as a "great" crime-fighting tool. Florida, citing privacy concerns, recently pulled license plate readers from state roads.
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