Documented Incident
Revere, Mass. officer suspended without pay after probe found misuse of Flock plate reader system
First reported: September 1, 2026 · 9 sources
The Revere Police Department suspended officer Michael Tiso without pay earlier this year after an internal affairs investigation, opened following a complaint in December, concluded he had used Flock license plate reader cameras to locate a woman who had an active restraining order against him, and had also run her plate through a state database. The department found both actions violated policy. Tiso has served the suspension and returned to duty, and the findings were reported to the Massachusetts Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission (POST), which tracks officer misconduct.
The case illustrates how ALPR databases can be queried for personal reasons, and how such misuse is often surfaced only by outside complaints rather than routine monitoring — a gap the department says it is now addressing with an audit tool.
Key facts
- Revere PD opened its internal investigation after a complaint received in December; the officer was suspended without pay earlier this year and has since returned to duty.
- Investigators found the officer accessed Flock cameras to locate a woman with an active restraining order against him and looked up her plate in a state database, both policy violations.
- The department said it has issued an ALPR use policy and implemented a new audit tool to flag unusual or suspicious search patterns.
- POST records show the officer had two prior suspensions in 2020 over allegations of failing to follow procedure in responding to an incident and conduct unbecoming; no further details were available.
- WCVB reported more than a dozen Massachusetts cities and towns have stopped using Flock plate readers amid privacy concerns; Flock declined the station's requests for comment.
Timeline
- September 1, 2026Revere police officer disciplined in Flock case
- September 2, 2026Revere police officer used Flock system to track ex-girlfriend’s whereabouts, records show; suspended for 3 days
- September 3, 2026Internal affairs report says Revere officer used Flock cameras to track former girlfriend
- September 4, 2026Revere police officer serves suspension after using Flock cameras to track ex
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- Revere police officer disciplined in Flock case (Wcvb, September 1, 2026)
- Revere police officer used Flock to track ex - girlfriend , records show (bostonglobe.com, September 3, 2026)
- Revere officer suspended over misuse of license plate reader system (Yahoo! News, September 1, 2026)
- Revere police officer used Flock system to track ex-girlfriend’s whereabouts, records show; suspended for 3 days (The Boston Globe, September 2, 2026)
- Revere police officer serves suspension after using Flock cameras to track ex (boston.com, September 4, 2026)
- Revere officer misused Flock cameras to track ex (wcvb.com, September 4, 2026)
- Revere officer suspended over misuse of license plate reader system (Yahoo, September 1, 2026)
- Internal affairs report says Revere officer used Flock cameras to track former girlfriend (WCVB, September 3, 2026)
- Revere police officer serves suspension after using Flock cameras to track ex (Boston.com, September 4, 2026)
More from Massachusetts
Everything we have documented in Massachusetts, or search every Massachusetts article in the archive.
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 September 6, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.