RALEIGH, N.C.-- Two internal audits raised questions about who has access to the license plate data collected by the Raleigh Police Department's Flock cameras.
WRAL Investigates obtained several internal audits from the department's Office of Professional Standards, which track access and use of the department's Flock system as well as another license plate reading camera system know as Vigilant LEARN.
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In April and May, subsequent audits noted about Flock that among the 400+ active users, "Several active users are no longer employed by the police department..."
A follow-up audit in July did not contain that language.
But at last week's city council meeting, Chief Rico Boyce contradicted the audit, saying no former employees can access the Flock system, "I heard a gentleman earlier talking about former employees are able to access the information. That is not true."
WRAL Investigates questioned RPD about the chief's comments and audit findings. A spokesperson confirmed those former employees were still classified as having an active Flock registration by the audit, but those employees could not access the database because they no longer had an active city-issued email or phone for two-factor authentication.
We asked how many former employees were still listed as active, but we were not provided a specific number.
The spokesperson added the department simply kept those former employees in the system in case they returned to work for RPD in the future. Following the audit findings, the department ended that practice and removed the former employees from the system.
Raleigh police has more than 700 sworn law enforcement officers right now. The most recent audit shows 416 of them are listed as "active" Flock users. During the audit period, only half of those users actually logged into the system.
During the month of July, officers conducted 5,911 queries in the Flock database. The audit also noted officers were doing a much better of providing details about why they were using the database to prove the searches were for legitimate law enforcement purposes.
According to the audit, those queries led to 23 Flock successes, including the recovery of 9 stolen cars, 12 arrests or issuances of warrants and generated 8 investigative leads. The audit also recommended officers to do a better job of completing the "outcome" section within Flock to ensure data collected and reported is accurate and complete.
WRAL Investigates also reached out to Flock headquarters twice to find out how former officers are deactivated from the system. The company did not respond.