Police report internal audit, disable county-controlled Flock cameras after unauthorized access
Summary
Chief of police reported an internal audit found one employee made unauthorized license-plate-reader queries; the employee resigned and county-controlled Flock cameras were discontinued while broader community calls to ban mass ALPR systems grew at public comment.
The St. Charles County Police reported an internal audit and subsequent actions after discovering unauthorized access to the county's license plate reader (LPR) system. Chief Friz said the department suspended the user's access, launched an internal-affairs and a criminal investigation handled by an outside agency, and that the employee resigned; prosecutors will receive the case for possible charges.
"We conducted an audit. We found something that didn't look right. We dug into it. We took immediate action," Chief Friz told the council, saying a broader review of users found no other unauthorized inquiries. The chief said the county has Genetec-brand LPR cameras on public right of way and that the county discontinued 29 Flock cameras it controlled; privately owned systems remain in the region.
Public commenters pressed for stronger policy changes. Jake Jackson urged the council to "get rid of them now," calling for a ban on government use of camera systems that can "track, log the movements of law-abiding citizens." Other speakers cited constitutional concerns and demanded deletion of non-investigative data and monthly audits.
The council and chief discussed operational controls in front-end access and logs: the county restricts most queries to investigators and requires justification and report or case numbers to create a documented trail before historical lookups are provided. The chief said the department will continue policy and procedure updates and public reporting of audit findings.
Next steps include continued internal and criminal investigations and follow-up reporting to council and the public about policy changes and any criminal referrals.
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