--- title: "Police Are Using AI Camera Networks to Stalk Women" description: "There have been 14 documented incidents where police officers used automatic license plate readers to stalk romantic interests." date: "2026-04-28" modified: "2026-04-28" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/police-ai-surveillance-stalking" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" --- # Police Are Using AI Camera Networks to Stalk Women ![A solar panel mounted on a pole with an attached security camera, set against a background of trees and a partly cloudy sky. The solar panel and camera are highlighted in red, while the trees and sky have a blue tint.]() *Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons / Futurism* Police officers across the US are using automated license plate readers (ALPRs) to stalk personal romantic interests. According to an [analysis by the Institute for Justice](), there are already 14 cases across the country where cops are alleged to have abused ALPR access to follow [spouses](), [exes](), and even [complete strangers](). The timing is striking, with the majority of the stalking cases coming after 2024 — the year when AI-ALRP company Flock Safety initiated a [massive expansion]() into over 4,000 US cities. Though Flock is claims to have internal safeguards to prevent this kind of abuse, the bulk of the 14 cases were uncovered by the victims, as opposed to the company or internal police investigations. In Milwaukee, for example, an eight-year veteran of the Milwaukee Police Department named [Josue Ayala resigned]() after allegedly using Flock to track his romantic partner, as well as the romantic partner's ex, almost 180 times over just two months. The two victims [only became aware]() they were being stalked after one of them looked up their license plate on the auditing site [HaveIBeenFlocked.com](). Today, Flock operates in over 6,000 cities across the US, with over [76,000 license plate readers]() and counting. Given the proliferation of license plate readers and the power dynamics at play — police [watch out]() [for one another](), after all — it's not hard to imagine the number of active ALRP abuse cases are actually much higher. "The fundamental problem with these systems is that they place private information about people's movements over time in the hands of every officer," said Michael Soyfer, an Institute for Justice attorney whose work involves challenging ALPR expansions. "Without the constitutional safeguard of a warrant requirement, that predictably allows officers to abuse their access to these systems for things like stalking romantic partners." **More on police surveillance:** *[The Number of Drones Being Deployed to Surveil Anti-Trump Protestors Is Staggering]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()