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Milwaukee Detective Charged Over Personal Use of License-Plate Reader and GPS Tracker

Prosecutors say an Internal Affairs detective used city surveillance tools to follow two people and put a covert tracker on one vehicle, a case that raises questions about police controls over automated plate-reading systems.

Overview

  • Prosecutors filed charges accusing Detective Tehrangi Chapman of misconduct in public office and misuse of a GPS tracking device after an internal audit found repeated personal searches of two people’s license plates.
  • The audit was sparked by a separate officer’s misuse of the city’s Flock automated license‑plate reader system and uncovered searches Chapman labeled as “training” or “test.”
  • Chapman, an Internal Affairs detective, admitted in an interview to investigators that he used Flock for non‑law‑enforcement reasons and to install a GPS tracker, and the department placed him on full suspension in March.
  • The criminal complaint says Chapman searched one person’s plate multiple times and tracked another person’s car with the covert device without that person’s knowledge or consent.
  • The case adds to wider reporting about law enforcement access to ALPR data and is likely to increase scrutiny of Flock use, retention rules, and internal oversight that privacy advocates and officials say are currently weak.