# Unsurveilled Decision Record and Documented Harms, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source: https://unsurveilled.org/data/
id,title,date,date_note,jurisdiction,state,agency,vendor,harm_type,summary,outcome,sourcing_tier,disputed,sources,url
apache-junction-az-officer-resigns,Apache Junction officer resigns after using readers to find a family member,2026-08-10,,Apache Junction,Arizona,Apache Junction Police Department,Flock Safety,officer-misuse,"An Apache Junction officer used license plate reader technology for personal purposes to locate a family member, according to the department. He asked two dispatchers to run the plate, falsely telling them it was for a welfare check.","The officer resigned. Chief Michael Pooley said that had he not resigned, he would have been terminated.",official-agency,,"https://www.azfamily.com/2026/08/10/apache-junction-officer-accused-misusing-license-plate-reader-track-family-member/; https://www.abc15.com/news/region-southeast-valley/apache-junction/apache-junction-officer-resigns-amid-investigation-into-flock-license-plate-reader-misuse; https://www.kjzz.org/kjzz-news/2026-08-10/apache-junction-police-officer-resigns-after-inappropriate-use-of-flock-cameras",https://unsurveilled.org/incidents/apache-junction-az-officer-resigns/
chandler-az-audit-anomaly,"Chandler audit finds unexplained system use; city ends the program",2026-08-07,,Chandler,Arizona,Chandler Police Department,Flock Safety,officer-misuse,"A routine audit at Chandler PD identified, for the first time in three years of audits, an anomaly in license plate reader use that could not be explained by standard police action. The chief described it as potential misuse by someone inside the department. The city cut all access and ended the program.","All 40 cameras discontinued and the service agreement not renewed. Access revoked for every member of the department. The city committed to policy revision, additional audit procedures, and new reporting requirements. An internal investigation was ongoing at the time of announcement.",official-agency,"The city stated that its initial review made clear no Chandler resident or member of the public had their privacy compromised. That is the city's characterization of an investigation it had not yet completed, and we present it as the city's position rather than as an established fact.","https://www.chandleraz.gov/news-center/chandler-discontinues-use-flocks-automated-license-plate-readers; https://www.azfamily.com/2026/08/07/chandler-ends-use-flock-license-plate-readers-after-audit-finds-anomaly/; https://www.kjzz.org/politics/2026-08-07/chandler-police-end-flock-camera-partnership-after-potential-misuse",https://unsurveilled.org/incidents/chandler-az-audit-anomaly/
johnson-county-tx-nationwide-search,"A deputy searched 83,000 cameras nationwide to find one woman",2025-05-01,"Reported May 2025; the search itself is documented in system audit logs.",Johnson County,Texas,Johnson County Sheriff's Office,Flock Safety,data-sharing,"A Texas deputy ran a nationwide license plate search across roughly 83,000 cameras to locate a woman who had ended a pregnancy. The search reached far outside Texas, into states with no connection to any Texas investigation.","Illinois moved to block dozens of out-of-state agencies from searching its data, and the Illinois Attorney General took up the matter. The vendor added keyword flagging for sensitive search reasons.",contested,"The sheriff has said the search was a welfare check on behalf of a concerned family member, not an investigation. Reporting on the underlying records indicates potential charges were discussed. We present both accounts because the characterization is genuinely in dispute; what is not in dispute is the scale of the search.","https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/open-records-laws-reveal-alprs-sprawling-surveillance-now-states-want-block-what; https://www.404media.co/",https://unsurveilled.org/incidents/johnson-county-tx-nationwide-search/
gilliam-aurora-children-handcuffed,Aurora: four children handcuffed face-down after a plate matched a motorcycle,2020-08-02,,Aurora,Colorado,Aurora Police Department,,wrongful-stop,Aurora officers stopped Brittney Gilliam's SUV after a system flagged it as stolen. The actually-stolen vehicle was a motorcycle registered in Montana that shared a plate number with her Colorado plate — the system compared digits without comparing issuing state or vehicle type.,Officers ordered everyone out at gunpoint and handcuffed the children face-down on the asphalt. The City settled for $1.9 million in February 2024.,court-documented,,"https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/automatic-license-plate-readers-are-a-threat-to-privacy; https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/11/human-toll-alpr-errors",https://unsurveilled.org/incidents/gilliam-aurora-children-handcuffed/
denise-green-san-francisco,"Denise Green: one misread character, held at gunpoint",2009-03-30,,San Francisco,California,San Francisco Police Department,,wrongful-stop,"A plate reader misread one character of Denise Green's license plate — a 3 as a 7 — matching a stolen truck. Officers stopped her burgundy sedan, ordered her out at gunpoint, and handcuffed her, without visually confirming the plate or noticing that the vehicle did not match.","The Ninth Circuit revived her civil rights claim, and the City settled for $495,000. It remains the foundational case on the danger of treating an automated alert as probable cause.",court-documented,,"https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-9th-circuit/1666208.html; https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/05/new-ninth-circuit-opinion-calls-question-blind-reliance-license-plate-camera-ids; https://www.aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/location-tracking/san-francisco-woman-pulled-out-car-gunpoint-because",https://unsurveilled.org/incidents/denise-green-san-francisco/