DEER PARK, Texas – A Deer Park police officer was suspended for 10 days after an internal audit found he used the department’s license plate reader cameras for what officials called “personal use.”
The officer, Brandon Williams, has since been reassigned to community services, according to the Deer Park Police Department.
Police Lieutenant Bryan Miller said the department discovered the alleged misuse during its own review and launched an investigation. He said Williams ran license plates 165 times using license plate.
“Since then, we put up safeguards,” Miller said.
The department says it has also taken steps to provide the public with more information about how technology is used. Deer Park recently released a transparency portal on the Flock website that explains the system and outlines the department’s use of the cameras.
The portal includes the total number of license plate reader cameras operated by the department, the number of plates scanned and information about people or vehicles officers are tracking in criminal investigations.
Miller said photos connected to license plate scans are deleted after 30 days. Though Flock recently started recommending a seven-day retention period.
“They’ve created what’s known as evidence mode. So, say you come across a vehicle, or there’s some type of criminal activity, and you need more than seven days. You can put your search and some of the things you located into evidence mode, and it will hold it longer than seven days.”
Still, Miller says they are not abiding by those recommendations, citing they may need to reference license plate data that’s older than seven days during open investigations.
“After 30 days, the photo of your license plate in your vehicle gets deleted,” Miller said.
Police say the cameras have helped solve several serious crimes, including cases involving child abductions, Amber Alerts and Silver Alerts.
But some residents said they remain concerned about who can access the system and how the information is used.
“I think they could just have a little bit more tightening it up on who has access to it,” one community member said.
Another resident said the technology has already been misused multiple times and expressed concern that misuse could continue.
Miller acknowledged the incident could affect public confidence in the department’s use of the cameras.
“There’s going to be a little bit of doubt, which I hate,” Miller said.
Some residents have also questioned whether Flock sells license plate data to artificial intelligence companies or other outside organizations. Miller said that, as far as he knows, Flock does not do that.
The technology also has facial recognition capabilities, but Miller said the images captured by the cameras generally do not allow officers to identify a driver’s face.
“I’ve gone through tons and tons of Flock pictures, and I’ve never been able to make out whether it’s male, female, the face of someone when they’re driving,” Miller said. “You cannot do it.”
Miller said he conducts an internal audit of the system daily.
The department says the new safeguards and transparency portal are intended to increase accountability while allowing officers to continue using the cameras to investigate crimes.