David Clarey
Four Racine-area law enforcement officers have been evaluated for criminal charges due to alleged misuse of a controversial license plate reading technology.
Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson told the Journal Sentinel her office had reviewed possible charges against two Racine Police Department officers and two Racine County Sheriff's Office deputies, with two of those reviews ongoing and two closed with her not issuing charges. The reviews stem from allegations of misuse of the license plate tracking system known as Flock, which has drawn criticism from activists and residents in some Wisconsin cities.
Hanson provided records that offer some detail on the two she elected not to issue charges against.
In one case, a Racine County Sheriff's Office investigator believed his partner "feared immediate harm from her ex-husband," and he used a Flock database to search for the ex-husband. Then he provided the Flock reports to another law enforcement agency in another jurisdiction.
She also wrote it was not unreasonable the investigator would access the Flock database for an investigation into criminal conduct for another jurisdiction.
"I cannot see that he used the information to harass or intimidate the subject of the searches," Hanson wrote.
That investigation was not initiated by a police referral, as is typical in prosecutor reviews of potential criminal charges. Instead, it came from what's known as a John Doe investigation, which can be requested by a member of the public as a way to investigate possible criminal charges.
The John Doe case was filed in March and led Walworth County Judge Kristine Drettwan to order Hanson's office to review potential charges April 13. Hanson declined charges June 1. The case remains open, according to online court records.
Hanson also declined to press charges against a police officer who accessed Flock five times to track his own vehicle, according to a disposition note. There were problems between the officer and a co-owner over payment for the vehicle and, on one occasion, it had been towed while the co-owner had used it.
Hanson, who received the referral in June, said the matter was best handled internally by Racine police and did not reach the level of a crime, because of the limited number of uses and because it was on his own vehicle.
"The co-owner was aware of the FLOCK use and is not afraid of [the officer]," Hanson's document reads.
The Journal Sentinel is not naming either officer, because they were not charged with a crime.
Those details come a week after Racine police confirmed two members were under investigation for allegations of misuse of Flock. A spokesperson for the department previously declined to say whether any other officers had previously been reviewed for misuse. The spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question clarifying if the officer Hanson declined to issue charges against is one of the two active investigations.
Lt. Michael Luell said July 21 it had internally disciplined the investigator from the incident that Hanson declined to issue charges against. He said the sheriff's office member Hanson is reviewing was investigated by an outside agency, before the criminal referral.
Elsewhere in Wisconsin, including Milwaukee, police have faced discipline for misusing Flock. In some cases, criminal charges have been filed.
In Milwaukee, prosecutors have charged two police officers after investigations into potential misuse. In one case, a former Milwaukee police officer was sentenced to 12 months of probation and a $500 fine after he tracked an ex-girlfriend and her partner.
More recently, a detective tasked with investigating officer misconduct was charged with a felony after investigators alleged he improperly used the system, GPS tracked the vehicle of someone and accessed case files related to the person. That detective, Tehrangi Chapman, had investigated the former police officer who later pleaded guilty to misusing the system, authorities said in a court document.
Officers' misuse of Flock, or allegations of it, have occurred in Menasha as well.
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@usatoday.com.
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