On Wednesday, former Milwaukee police officer Josue Ayala pleaded not guilty to a misconduct charge accusing him of using the department’s Flock-branded Automated License Plate Reader system (ALPR) for personal reasons. He resigned from the department hours before his initial court appearance, according to local reporting.
Ayala, 33, is charged with attempted misconduct in public office, a misdemeanor. Prosecutors say he used Flock’s plate-tracking platform to look up the location of a woman he was dating, as well as that of her ex-boyfriend, more than 170 times in total over a roughly two-month period. Ayala and his lawyer did not speak with reporters at his court appearance. Jon McCray Jones, a policy analyst with the Wisconsin chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, told Urban Milwaukee that the accusation exemplifies “just how easily Flock cameras can be turned against the very people the technology purports to protect,”and said it was part of a growing trend. Indeed, Ayala is the second officer in the state to face charges related to misuse of surveillance technology in recent weeks. In February, Menasha police officer Cristian Morales pleaded not guilty to the same charge, after allegedly using Flock technology to track an ex-girlfriend. Morales, accused of running five unauthorized searches, is on administrative leave, according to reports.
Over the past few years officers have been accused or convicted of misusing license plate readers to track people for personal reasons in Orange City, Florida, Sedgwick, Kansas and Braselton, Georgia. It’s not just young, inexperienced cops either: In Kansas and Georgia, the officers in question were both police chiefs…