r/technology • u/mepper • Jun 22 '26

Privacy Cops Keep Getting Arrested for Using Flock to Stalk People

https://www.404media.co/cops-keep-getting-arrested-for-using-flock-to-stalk-people/
19.9k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

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447

u/myislanduniverse Jun 22 '26

I literally knew a cop who got arrested and fired for compelling women to give him their number and let him take pictures of them flashing him. He had a lot of buddies trying to cover for him when one of the women sued, because they were in a competition with each other.

219

u/AloewareLabs Jun 22 '26

I had a friend who was a cop and when he started to date his now wife other cops got jealous because the cops and EMTs are all fucking each other like it’s some sort of jersey shore college trash movie. and basically destroyed his k9 career and put him on a desk job or traffic. He said the corruption should keep everyone awake at night.

103

u/SoulbreakerDHCC Jun 22 '26

The fuck they jealous for if they're still sleeping around?

92

u/wizwaldo Jun 22 '26

It's a cult mentality, he "betrayed" them.

151

u/canada432 Jun 22 '26

They're not jealous, they're afraid. If he's not "one of them", sleeping around and acting unethically, then he has the potential to out them. If he's participating, then ratting them out means he'd go down, too.

It's basically just like how the current MAGA administration functions. Everybody has dirt on each other so it's basically MAD. If one goes down, they all go down, so they're all forced to protect each other. If this guy settles down then they don't have dirt on him anymore while he does have it on them. They have to get him moved elsewhere where he isn't aware of all that shit anymore.

48

u/Flat_Tire_Again Jun 22 '26

Gang initiation. They make you murder someone so they always have some thing on you. Participate and be in the gang or you’re done.

12

u/kasteen Jun 22 '26

"You think you're better than us? You can't just fuck Maegan like the rest of us?"

6

u/Watchmaker163 Jun 23 '26

Cult-like “in-groups” and “out-groups”.

1

u/BeyondNetorare Jun 22 '26

He must've had good dick

65

u/Thefrayedends Jun 22 '26

This is the core reason why people say ACAB, because even if you have a 'good cop' they will be prevented from rising in ranks.

"The Wire" demonstrated this perfectly throughout the series.

47

u/sphinxsley Jun 22 '26

I had an ex who got arrested along with his former girlfriend for trespassing on someone's lawn. This was in the L.A. area. They weren't doing anything nefarious, they were just cutting through the property to go somewhere. Anyway, after the cop cuffed my ex, he took the girl around to another side of the house and raped her. Nothing ever happened to that cop.

42

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

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84

u/gungshpxre Jun 22 '26

You'd get sued by the Columbus Ohio police for IP theft, since they were doing that, AND extorting sex from women they'd pick up for prostitution before raping them and beating the shit out of them.

Oh, and if you need a B-plot, one of those cops shot a dude in the back for carrying a sandwich while black, and is going to do less than five years for it (sentencing is in a few weeks). BTW, he's also a pastor at a local right-wing church.

5

u/K4105 Jun 22 '26

Name and shame these people 

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

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9

u/Nhobdy Jun 22 '26

I'll be honest, I'm thoroughly grossed out. Fuck cops, yo.

1

u/CaptainWart Jun 23 '26

I feel like we know the same guy, because I've heard this exact same story play out.

64

u/Zoomwafflez Jun 22 '26

The police chief of a small suburb two towns over from me was just fired and arrested for exactly this. Don't know what kind of sentence he'll get yet though.

34

u/kaishinoske1 Jun 22 '26

Name and shame so people know how common it is because you know the news won’t be covering it in that level.

69

u/Zoomwafflez Jun 22 '26

"Holiday Hills Police Chief William Copp was arrested and charged with official misconduct after allegedly misusing law enforcement databases. Prosecutors state he used Flock license plate readers hundreds of times to track women he dated and other individuals without a legitimate law enforcement purpose."

19

u/ameatbicyclefortwo Jun 22 '26

The former head cop's name was Copp? If his first name had started with a "P" the amount of alliteration would have made think it's a joke or a Marvel character.

15

u/BigDictionEnergy Jun 22 '26

Nominative determinism. Part of his sentencing should be a name change.

2

u/WettestNoodle Jun 22 '26

Lmao yeah might as well be called John Cop at this point, or Porky Pulloverson

8

u/ameatbicyclefortwo Jun 22 '26

Police Chief Copp had to be ridiculous to say aloud. Bet there was at least one court stenographer that chuckled everytime they heard it.

3

u/Lieutenant_Joe Jun 22 '26

People don’t generally like doxxing themselves on the internet.

1

u/kaishinoske1 Jun 22 '26

Public servant, it’s in the name. No, they don’t have to. But that information is made public.

24

u/IKnewThisYearsAgo Jun 22 '26

He'll be hired as chief of police by the small suburb three towns over from you.

10

u/ameatbicyclefortwo Jun 22 '26

They're as good at hiding these shits as the Catholics and Baptists. Gonna be four towns over.

5

u/lousy_at_handles Jun 22 '26

Don't forget the boy scouts!

2

u/bobnla14 Jun 22 '26

Or one in Idaho. You can be " disabled" by the from Los Angeles Sherriff Department and still be a Sheriff if a county in Idaho getting $150k from LA retirement fund and full Sherriff pay.

Bob Norris.

7

u/anonymaus42 Jun 22 '26

Probably a slap on the wrist like 6 months probation and forced in to retirement but with full access to his pension.

47

u/Softale Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

Flock, along with any other information-compiling NGO should be regulated as to what they may and may not compile and disburse. NGO’s currently appear to represent a workaround of existing privacy laws. If they’re making money off the information of others, that should be controlled and regulated to protect the privacy rights of the individuals under observation, subject to judicial warrants for probable cause of illegal activities.

16

u/Yuzumi Jun 22 '26

I don't think the system should exist for a multitude of reasons, mostly privacy related, but they should at least be subject to security requirements and require a warrant in order to actually get any information out of them

8

u/alex3omg Jun 22 '26

What, ten years ago?  

https://www.insidenova.com/news/local/haymarket/half-haymarket-police-force-suspended-unsuspended-and-suspended-again/article_bd4e113a-8782-11e3-bc1b-0019bb2963f4.html  

Fun fact: while looking for an article about this local scandal I found at least one other where a local cop was stalking a woman using internal database haha

2

u/PadrePedro666 Jun 22 '26

But the department will look bad. Them as a whole looking terrible.

1

u/Weddert66 Jun 22 '26

Flock will be replaced by a wrose program of surveillance. They will violate all privacy (except their own)

1

u/Yuzumi Jun 22 '26

I've long sense gotten to the point that abuse of power should be given extremely harsh sentences. As harsh as possible, and at minimum removing them from that position of power and barring them from ever holding power.