Police Misuse License Plate Cameras for Stalking, Investigation Reveals
WHO:
Newser - Marci Bakely, a Georgia resident, and her ex-boyfriend, Michael Steffman, a small-town police chief.
Techmeme - Over 50 officers in the U.S. charged or accused of misusing license-plate readers.
WHAT:
Newser - An investigation revealed that police technology, initially intended for crime-fighting, is being misused for covert tracking by some officers, as reported by the Washington Post.
Techmeme - An analysis of U.S. police and court records found that over 50 officers were charged or accused of misusing license-plate readers, including for stalking, according to the Washington Post.
Newser - An investigation revealed that police technology, initially intended for crime-fighting, is being misused for covert tracking by some officers.
Techmeme - An analysis of U.S. police and court records found that over 50 officers were charged or accused of misusing license-plate readers, including for stalking.
Newser - Michael Steffman secretly tracked Marci Bakely's movements using Flock Safety's automated license-plate reader network.
Newser - Steffman ran searches on Bakely's and her daughter's license plates approximately 600 times over about a year.
Newser - Steffman was arrested on stalking and related charges and died by suicide before trial.
WHERE:
Techmeme - The analysis specifically mentions Jefferson, Georgia, in relation to the misuse of license-plate readers.
Newser - The events took place in Georgia.
Techmeme - Jefferson, Georgia, is mentioned in relation to the analysis of police and court records.
WHEN:
Newser - The searches by Steffman occurred over about a year.
WHY:
Newser - Bakely could not understand how her ex-boyfriend always seemed to know her whereabouts.
HOW:
Newser - Audit logs obtained via the site Have I Been Flocked show that Steffman ran searches on Bakely's and her daughter's plates roughly 600 times over about a year.
Newser - Steffman utilized Flock Safety's automated license-plate reader network to track Bakely.
(UPDATED August 4, 2026 12:41 UTC)
An investigation has revealed that police technology, originally designed for crime-fighting, is being misused for covert tracking by some officers, according to the Washington Post. An analysis of U.S. police and court records found that over 50 officers have been charged or accused of misusing license-plate readers, including instances of stalking. One notable case involved an officer who ran searches on the license plates of a woman and her daughter approximately 600 times over the course of a year, as uncovered by audit logs from the site Have I Been Flocked.
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(UPDATED August 4, 2026 04:12 UTC)
An investigation has uncovered that police technology designed for crime-fighting is being misused for covert tracking by some officers. An analysis of U.S. police and court records has revealed that over 50 officers have been charged or accused of misusing license-plate readers, with specific mention of incidents in Jefferson, Georgia. This troubling trend raises serious concerns about the integrity of law enforcement practices.
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(UPDATED August 4, 2026 00:09 UTC)
In a troubling case from Georgia, Michael Steffman, a small-town police chief, secretly tracked his ex-girlfriend Marci Bakely's movements using an automated license-plate reader network, conducting approximately 600 searches on her and her daughter's license plates over the course of a year. Bakely was left bewildered by how Steffman always seemed to know her whereabouts, leading to his arrest on stalking charges; however, he died by suicide before he could stand trial. This incident is part of a broader issue, with over 50 officers across the U.S. facing charges or accusations related to the misuse of license-plate readers.