Documented Incident
Milwaukee Officer Charged With ALPR Misuse While Investigating Colleague's Similar Case
First reported: July 18, 2026 · 1 source
Milwaukee police officer Josue Ayala searched a dating partner's license plate more than 200 times over a two-month period in 2025, according to court documents, along with searches for that partner's ex. Ayala was charged with misconduct, resigned, and was sentenced to one year's probation. Tehrangi Chapman, the officer assigned to investigate Ayala, has now been charged with "misuse of GPS information" for allegedly conducting similar searches on people in his own life. The Institute for Justice, a libertarian public-interest law firm, says it has identified at least 24 comparable cases nationwide over the past two years.
The cases raise questions about whether internal audit systems can detect ALPR misuse in real time, particularly when the officer assigned to investigate is himself accused of the same conduct. They also inform debates in other jurisdictions weighing what oversight, if any, should accompany access to license plate search databases.
Key facts
- Ayala allegedly ran a partner's plate 200+ times over two months in 2025; he resigned and received one year's probation
- Chapman, assigned to investigate Ayala, was charged this month with misuse of GPS information — allegations, not findings
- Institute for Justice counts at least 24 ALPR stalking cases nationally in two years; nearly all officers were criminally charged and left their jobs
- Six additional cases were reported this month in Illinois, South Carolina, Texas, California, Georgia, and Wisconsin
- Flock operates more than 80,000 cameras nationwide; at least 30 municipalities canceled contracts during 2025
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- Police Keep Losing Their Jobs for Using Flock Cameras to Stalk People (Mother Jones, July 18, 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 10, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.