KENOSHA, Wis. — A former Kenosha County sheriff's deputy is facing criminal charges after prosecutors say he used license plate reader technology — known as Flock cameras — to track a fellow deputy he was dating.
Frank McGrath is charged with two counts of misconduct in public office. He faces up to 7 years in prison if convicted on both charges.
WATCH: Former Kenosha County sheriff's deputy charged with misusing license plate reader to track fellow deputy
According to the criminal complaint filed on Wednesday, McGrath used the Flock camera system multiple times in September of last year to track the other deputy, and also used the department's GPS system to track her body camera.
The Kenosha County Sheriff's Office said McGrath resigned in December. His photo was obtained after TMJ4 filed an open records request.
Following the announcement of the charges, the sheriff's office said it put in new safeguards for its Flock cameras. Those include:
- Requiring personnel to document their Flock use and reasoning for it
- Reducing data retention from 30 to 7 days
- Requiring additional training.
Flock Safety also recently announced system and policy changes of its own. Some of those changes include shorter data retention and automatic lockouts for those who may be abusing the system.
Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley sat down with the local NBC station in Detroit, where he said he welcomes regulation on the system, as well as tougher punishments for those who misuse it. Langley also defended the system, saying last month alone it helped detect over 1,000 missing people and 20,000 stolen cars.
"I've never met anyone who doesn't want to be safer. Maybe they exist, and I've traveled the country, and I have not met that person yet. I think those are really good conversations. Then I think there's a lot of misinformation," Langley said.
Nine states currently have regulations when it comes to Flock cameras. In Wisconsin, it is up to each municipality.
The Kenosha County case is one of several high-profile cases involving alleged misuse of Flock cameras. Multiple officers in Milwaukee, Racine and Menasha are all facing similar accusations.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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