The St. Charles County Police Department has ended its use of Flock license plate readers (LPRs) and adopted new safeguards for requesting information on license plates after a new audit tool revealed a civilian police employee misused the Flock system.

The decision to opt out of the contract with Flock and put plastic bags over the 28 Flock cameras managed by the County PD was made Aug. 20, after an internal police audit found the employee had looked up Flock data for “personal reasons.” 

“This employee’s egregious misuse of the data system may be limited to a personal matter, but I am committed to ensuring that every use of the tools law enforcement have are audited—from my own access to the newest recruit,” says St. Charles County Police Chief Kurt Frisz. “And then we ensure we audit the auditors.” 

The Department has been one of several law enforcement agencies in the region that uses a network of LPRs to actively investigate stolen vehicles and other vehicles wanted in connection with felony crimes.  

Because the Flock system has lacked an upfront check-and-balance on law enforcement requests for data, and also lacks a readily available audit system across the entire history of its available data, in early August, the County began reviewing the process of terminating its contract for Flock cameras, including some at County park entrances and others at traffic intersections. 

On Aug. 12, Chief Frisz received information concerning Flock’s new audit assistance program from Flock representatives. This new tool allows an audit of the system’s usage by law enforcement personnel, automatically scanning for questionable patterns of searches from Jan. 1, 2026, forward. 

However, the new Flock audit assistance program does not provide easy access to the complete history of searches. 

On the morning of Aug. 14, Chief Frisz was informed of an abnormal pattern of searches on Flock cameras by one civilian employee after conducting an audit of all County users with access to Flock data. 

Chief Frisz immediately ordered an internal investigation and suspended the employee’s credentials, cutting off the employee’s access to law enforcement-only information. 

During an interview, the civilian employee admitted to inappropriate use of the system for a personal, non-law enforcement purpose. The employee was put on unpaid leave and, after the internal investigation was provided to the Chief, was subsequently provided notice of termination. The employee resigned shortly thereafter. 

The audit conducted using the new Flock audit tool showed no other patterns of unauthorized use by any other St. Charles County Police Department employees dating back to January 2026. Further, Chief Frisz has restricted access to all historic data available through Flock to a limited number of key supervisory employees along with the officers assigned to the Regional Intelligence and Information Center (RIIC). All searches by authorized personnel will be regularly audited to ensure no personal or improper use is occurring. 

Police released no further details on the incident and the employee’s identity remains private in accordance with personnel ordinances. The matter has been referred to an outside police agency for criminal investigation and independent determination of whether criminal charges should be sought. 

While the 28 Flock cameras are no longer in use, the County also has a network of about 150 other cameras able to read license plates under a different vendor. 

“The other vendor has much stricter security protocols to prevent abuse,” Frisz says. “Unlike Flock, the other system we use requires two sets of eyes on every license plate lookup.” 

Under the Genetec system, when a St. Charles County officer wants to look up a license plate, the officer must inform a RIIC investigator of the data request, which is then assigned a case number for officer accountability and tracking. 

“With the proper safeguards to protect people’s privacy, license plate readers are a valuable tool to help keep St. Charles County safe,” Frisz says. 

The chief says LPRs have helped locally: 

• Contribute to 30-50 arrests annually. 
• Search for vehicle make and model or other details when a license plate is not known. 
• Led to the arrest of a murder suspect from Georgia whose plates were spotted in St. Charles County. 
• Helped solve a home-invasion and assault in O’Fallon. 
• Spotted vehicles linked to registered sex offenders not allowed in County parks. 
• Contribute to overall crime deterrence.

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