A police lieutenant in the Cincinnati suburb of Sharonville, Ohio, has been indicted on a felony charge for allegedly using his department's Flock license plate reader cameras to follow the movements of someone he knew.

Walter Cordes, 48, a lieutenant with the Sharonville Police Department, searched the Flock system 29 times between Dec. 19, 2024, and April 20, 2026, to determine the person's whereabouts for personal reasons unrelated to police work, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office. A grand jury indicted him on Oct. 13 on one count of unauthorized use of a computer, cable or telecommunication property — a fifth-degree felony that carries up to 12 months in prison under Ohio law. Prosecutors have not identified the person Cordes is alleged to have tracked, nor have they disclosed why he searched for them.

The misuse came to light in June, when Cordes self-reported during a department audit of the system and then admitted to the searches in an interview, prompting an investigation by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. Sharonville Police Chief Jim Nesbit told WKRC that the audit uncovered other improper use, which the department addressed, and that "Lt. Cordes came forward to share that he too had misused the system." Sharonville leases 24 Flock cameras, and the department said Cordes has been placed on administrative leave while it completes its own investigation.

"When technology is misused, it undermines public trust," Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich said in a statement. Pillich said Cordes is the first law enforcement official her office has charged with misusing the technology since she took office.

Rich Krummen, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 74, told FOX19 that people he had spoken with were shocked, but added, "that's why we have checks and balances."

A widening pattern of cases

The indictment is one of several Flock-related prosecutions announced in recent weeks. In September, prosecutors in Marion County, Indiana, charged five Indianapolis police officers with misusing their access to Flock cameras; one officer allegedly looked up the location of his ex-wife's car more than 950 times over six months. On Oct. 7, Jeremy Harrison, a former police lieutenant in Joliet, Illinois, was charged with computer tampering and official misconduct over his use of the city's Flock system, according to FOX 32.

The charges add to mounting pressure on Flock, an $8 billion startup backed by a16z and Tiger Global whose cameras allow any police department with a contract to reconstruct where a car has been. The company told Fortune it has raised $500 million at an $8.3 billion valuation and has argued that it is adding customers far faster than it loses them.

In August, the Arizona cities of Tempe and Cave Creek ended their Flock contracts on the same day, with Cave Creek citing privacy concerns and cases of misuse. A Flock spokesperson said at the time that every search is logged and reviewed through the company's Audit Assistance tool, which flags unusual activity for administrators.

Closer to Sharonville, many jurisdictions across Greater Cincinnati have halted or canceled their Flock contracts over misuse concerns, WVXU reported — including the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, the agency that investigated Cordes. Sharonville's own lease of 24 Flock cameras remains in place.

The case now advances on two tracks — the criminal proceedings following the Oct. 13 indictment and the police department's internal investigation — while Sharonville's continued participation in the Flock network remains an open question.

Flock declined to comment. An attorney for Cordes could not be reached.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.