By admin 
CHANDLER, AZ (AZFamily) — An East Valley police officer is off the job after admitting to misusing Flock cameras to track a family member.
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The Chandler Police Department announced Thursday that the officer at the center of an investigation into its Flock automated license plate reader (ALPR) system resigned.
The department began investigating an anomaly in its Flock camera system last week and stopped its use of the cameras. Chandler Police said then that the department would not renew its Flock contract.
The investigation pointed to one officer whose account was linked to the unusual activity, the department said. After being questioned, the officer admitted to using the system to find a family member who had previous health issues.
Chandler Police said investigators verified the activity was linked to the officer’s family member, not a member of the public.
The officer was initially placed on administrative leave but resigned before a formal investigation was completed.
Because the officer resigned, Chandler Police said the investigation into the Flock system is closed.
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Chandler is among several Valley police agencies with reported ALPR misuse incidents, but several of them have stressed the importance of the cameras in fighting crime.
The city of Surprise suspended its use of the cameras and placed an officer on leave after an audit uncovered potential misuse of the cameras.
Earlier this week, an Apache Junction officer resigned after an internal investigation found he had misused the Flock system for personal use to track his wife. Goodyear also announced that an officer was under investigation for possible misuse of the technology.
Tempe Police recently announced the department stopped all data sharing from Flock cameras after the community raised privacy concerns and amid reports of other cities’ misuse of the technology.
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