Senior detective accused of using Flock ALPR network 3K times to spy on ex
Dozens of law enforcement representatives have been accused of abusing the Flock network.
Protest against Flock Safety. By Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
- Albany investigator Laurie Moore allegedly made more than 4,000 unauthorized searches involving five people she knew.
- About 3,000 searches allegedly targeted her former girlfriend’s car.
- Moore faces charges of falsifying business records and official misconduct.
- Privacy groups say at least 220 Flock contracts have ended after public pushback.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
The controversy over the Flock automatic license plate reader (ALPR) network is heating up in the US. More evidence of the abuse of people's data is emerging, alongside examples of how these cameras helped solve crimes.
Laurie Moore, 47, a senior investigator with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, was arrested last week after she was accused of making more than 4,000 unauthorized searches involving five people she knew this year.
Around 3,000 of these searches allegedly involved her former girlfriend's car, while the license plates belonging to four other people were searched hundreds of times each, NEWS10 reported.
Moore, who worked for the department for 13 years, has been charged with falsifying business records in the second degree and official misconduct. According to FOX56, citing Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, Moore had access to the Flock system until roughly the end of 2024.
Per the sheriff, restrictions on who can access Flock data were tightened and "now it's only a supervisor." Apple was quoted as saying that he's still "a strong defender" of the ALPR technology because it helped them solve "murders, organized retail theft, burglaries that might have otherwise gone unsolved."
Moore is not the only law enforcement representative accused of abusing records collected by Flock cameras. For example, this past August, The Washington Post reported on 46 cases in which officers were charged with or accused of misusing Flock.
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Cybernews has also reported on how Flock cameras are being used by police to track people who simply hang around.
Due to public pushback, at least 220 Flock contracts have been terminated in the US, according to calculations by civil rights and privacy-focused nonprofit Secure Justice.
As the expansion of the Flock business is increasingly threatened, company CEO Garrett Langley recently called for a compromise between safety and privacy.
