Documented Incident

St. Charles County Police end Flock contract after former civilian employee admits misusing data

Event: August 20, 2026 · First reported: August 20, 2026 · 10 sources

The St. Charles County Police Department announced on Thursday it is discontinuing its use of Flock Safety license plate readers after identifying what it described as an abnormal pattern of searches by a former civilian employee. The department said the employee admitted using the system for personal, non-law-enforcement purposes, was placed on unpaid leave, and resigned after receiving a termination notice. Chief Kurt Frisz said the misuse was found using a Flock audit tool he learned about from company representatives, and that an outside agency is now investigating. The county's 28 Flock cameras have been covered with black bags pending retrieval by the company.

Key facts

• The department said the audit covered searches beginning Jan. 1 and turned up no other unauthorized usage patterns in that window.
• The former employee has not been named, with police citing personnel confidentiality; an outside police agency is investigating.
• 28 Flock cameras were deployed countywide — 20 in county parks and eight on streets.
• Frisz said the department found Flock's audit tool did not readily provide a complete search history, and that historical data access is now limited to select supervisors and Regional Intelligence and Information Center officers.
• The county will continue using license plate readers from a different vendor; Frisz said ALPRs produce 30 to 50 felony arrests annually on average. Pulaski County Sheriff's Department separately announced it would stop using Flock the same week.

Timeline

• August 20, 2026Flock cameras are bagged up after employee abused system, St. Charles County Police say
• August 20, 2026St. Charles County Police ditch Flock cameras after employee abused system
• August 21, 2026St. Charles County Drops Flock Cameras After Misuse
• August 20, 2026St. Charles County Police drops Flock after employee misuse
• August 20, 2026St. Charles County Kills Flock Cameras After Worker Used Them to Track an Ex
• August 20, 2026St . Charles County police drop Flock cameras following data abuse incident

Sources

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

• Flock cameras are bagged up after employee abused system, St. Charles County Police say (STLPR, August 20, 2026)
• St. Charles County Police ditch Flock cameras after employee abused system (Stlpr, August 20, 2026)
• St. Charles County Drops Flock Cameras After Misuse (stl.news, August 21, 2026)
• St. Charles County ditches Flock cameras after employee 'abused' license plate readers (STLtoday.com, August 20, 2026)
• St. Charles County police discontinue Flock cameras after data misuse (FOX 2, August 20, 2026)
• St. Charles County Police pull Flock cameras after audit (FOX 2, August 21, 2026)
• St. Charles County Police drops Flock after employee misuse (Spectrum News, August 20, 2026)
• St. Charles County police restrict Flock camera use after 'egregious misuse' by employee (KSDK, August 20, 2026)
• St. Charles County Kills Flock Cameras After Worker Used Them to Track an Ex (Hoodline, August 20, 2026)
• St . Charles County police drop Flock cameras following data abuse incident (firstalert4.com, August 20, 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 26, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.