Milwaukee police open third internal investigation into officer's Flock system use

Event: August 18, 2026 · First reported: August 19, 2026 · 1 source

The Milwaukee Police Department confirmed on Aug. 18, 2026 that it had opened an internal investigation into an officer over a single "outlying use" of the Flock license plate reader system the previous week. A department spokesperson said MPD does not currently believe the use was criminal and that the inquiry is focused on whether the officer violated the department's Flock policy. It is the third time an MPD member has been investigated for potential Flock misuse; the two earlier cases produced criminal charges.

Why this matters

Repeat internal investigations at a single department raise questions about how effectively ALPR audit logs and use policies deter improper searches, and about who reviews the reviewers after an internal affairs detective was himself charged.

Key facts

MPD said the current investigation concerns one "outlying use" of Flock and is not believed to be criminal at this time.
A former MPD officer pleaded guilty to using Flock to track someone he was dating more than 120 times.
Police allege the internal affairs detective who investigated that officer later used Flock to track someone 17 times; he was charged with a felony and his case is ongoing.
MPD said Aug. 18 it was in discussions with Flock Safety about cutting its data retention period from 30 days to seven days.
Flock Safety has added new guardrails after complaints nationwide, but many settings remain choices left to individual agencies.

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

Milwaukee police investigate third officer for Flock misuse (Journal Sentinel, August 19, 2026)

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About this record

BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.

Updated August 20, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.