NEW BEDFORD – As police investigate possible abuses of the Flock Safety camera system, one officer has been accused of using it to track a former girlfriend's movements in an abuse prevention order application filed in New Bedford District Court.
New Bedford Police confirmed in a press release Aug. 11 that an unnamed officer had been placed on administrative leave based on audits of the Flock system.
Internal investigations were also opened as a result of the audits, according to the release. It also stated that the investigations were active and the department wouldn't be releasing any further information at this time.
An abuse prevention order was approved and issued Aug. 10 in New Bedford District Court, ordering New Bedford Police Officer Emily H. Pacheco to stay at least 50 yards away from the applicant and make no contact by phone, in writing or electronically.
Eyes in the skies: New Bedford residents blast Flock cameras, demand removal
She was also ordered to turn over all guns and ammunition to New Bedford Police, as well as her gun license, which has been suspended.
The abuse prevention order is in force for three days, pending a hearing that could extend it for a longer period of time or modify its terms.
In her affidavit seeking the abuse prevention order, the woman who applied for the order — who is not being named by The Standard-Times — said she and Pacheco had had a two- to 2½-year romantic relationship and lived together through 90% of it.
However, the woman alleges that when they broke up in April, Pacheco refused to leave her alone.
She wrote that, as a result, Pacheco became the subject of a New Bedford Police internal affairs investigation for running her license plate number through Flock to follow her movements.
On pause: New Bedford police halt Flock cameras, investigate possible misuse
She said she moved out in September 2025, but that Pacheco insisted on remaining in contact through November 2025. She said they tried to make the relationship work again, but that failed in January 2026.
They made one more attempt at reconciliation during a shared March vacation.
However, the woman wrote in the affidavit, she "officially" decided to end the relationship in April.
She wrote that she received endless calls and text messages from Pacheco after the breakup, even after she was asked to stop.
Pacheco also reached out through social media, the woman wrote, which caused her to block Pacheco from all platforms.
The woman wrote that Pacheco generated fake phone numbers to reach out to her, calling and texting.
Pacheco also showed up to the woman's home unannounced and refused to leave when asked, the woman wrote.
Pacheco also twice spoke to her in public when the woman told her she didn't want to speak to her anymore.
Pacheco also pulled up to her home in a police cruiser while on duty in late April after the woman had just pulled in. The woman wrote that Pacheco got out of her cruiser and refused to leave her alone. The woman wrote she had to contact her work supervisor to deescalate the situation.
Police Chief Jason Thody stated on Aug. 11 that the Flock system would be temporarily suspended starting this week, to conduct a thorough review of the department's use of the technology and how to best ensure its secure use going forward.
The use of the automated license plate reader camera system, manufactured by Flock Safety, was blasted by residents in a July 28 meeting with Thody as a dangerous intrusion on people's lives and privacy, which had been installed with a lack of public transparency.
Gideon Epstein, representing the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, spoke of the ACLU's grave concerns with Flock during the meeting.
He said Flock is location-tracking technology, not simply a collector of license plate images. "That is a huge oversimplification."
The cameras record and log the license plates of all passing vehicles and create a searchable database. That includes details like the car's model, color, and dents.
The ability to track a vehicle's movements and pinpoint a person's location has made the technology susceptible to abuse.
More than a dozen law enforcement officers across Georgia have been arrested for misuse of the technology in recent weeks, including searching Flock for personal reasons. One former Braselton, Georgia, police chief reportedly searched for the vehicle tags of an ex-girlfriend and her daughter more than 600 times.
Thody said the city has 20 Flock-equipped cameras, mostly along main thoroughfares, and one mobile Flock camera among the city's 249 cameras.
The two-year, $81,000 contract with Flock was approved in 2024 before he became chief, he said. He thought a one-year renewal would cost in the $30,000 range.
There have been changes made to the system in New Bedford due to concerns, according to a Q&A posted by the NBPD on its website. Police currently say that to conduct a search in the Flock system, the officer or detective must indicate an approved law enforcement reason with the request.
Police say the system is not supposed to be used to monitor residents' day-to-day activities or for any non-law enforcement purposes.
The system includes an audit trail of user activity, which allows the department to review searches and system usage, according to the Q&A. Police say that helps ensure accountability and allows the department to investigate any potential misuse of the technology.
Thody said during the meeting that it was a balancing act, with legitimate concerns with abuse on one side and Flock's effectiveness in law enforcement on the other.
"It solves crimes we normally wouldn't be able to," Thody said.
An online petition calling on city officials to suspend Flock so that public hearings can be held on its use has gathered 319 signatures. It states that a decision on Flock's reinstatement should come only after rules on its use have been spelled out in public session. Residents are urged in the petition to attend an Aug. 20 city council meeting to show their support for Flock's suspension.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Officer accused of tracking ex via Flock, used police cruiser