Apache Junction officer used license plate reader to find family member: PD
APACHE JUNCTION, Ariz. - Officials with the Apache Junction Police Department say they will hold a news conference Monday afternoon to discuss an internal investigation over a police officer's "improper use of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology to locate a family member."
The backstory:
In a statement released on Aug. 10, Apache Junction Police said they began an internal investigation into the matter, after they identified an officer who "accessed law-enforcement technology for a purpose that was not related to an authorized law-enforcement investigation or official police business."
Officials say the investigation, which has since been completed, determined that the officer contacted two Apache Junction police dispatchers, and requested they run the family member's license plate.
The request, per the statement, was represented as being related to a welfare check.
"After assisting with the request, the dispatchers recognized concerns regarding the circumstances and notified their supervisor, resulting in the matter being elevated through the Department's chain of command," officials wrote.
Dig deeper:
Investigators also said they were contacted independently by another law enforcement agency, after the officer made the same request to them on the same family member.
"During that interaction with the other police department, the officer disclosed that he had used ALPR technology to locate the family member within their city jurisdiction. The other agency recognized concerns surrounding the circumstances and immediately notified AJPD," officials with Apache Junction stated.
The officer in question was put on administrative leave when the internal investigation began.
Big picture view:
This is not the only such case in the Phoenix area.
On Aug. 7, we reported that Chandler Police has launched an internal investigation into the potential misuse of their Flock license plate readers.
Chandler Police Department
"I can just say that we have identified a potential misuse of the system by somebody in our organization," Chandler Police Chief Bryan Chapman said.
At the same time, the city announced they will discontinue their use of the Flock cameras.
Incidents involving improper use of license plate reader technologies have also happened elsewhere in the country. On Aug. 7, it was reported that a North Carolina police officer was arrested after she allegedly used license plate reader cameras in her city to track her boyfriend's ex-wife.
According to authorities, an internal audit of the department's license plate reader system found the woman accessed the database 31 times for personal purposes.
What's next:
Apache Junction Police's news conference is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from a statement released by the Apache Junction Police Department.