NEW BEDFORD — A metropolis constabulary serviceman has been accused by an ex-girlfriend of utilizing Flock licence sheet readers to travel her, according to an affidavit revenge this week for an maltreatment prevention order.
The serviceman faces an soul affairs investigation, the constabulary national president has confirmed, though he would not stock for what reasons.
Emily Pacheco, who useful arsenic a patrol officer, was served the maltreatment prevention bid connected Monday, pinch a judge determining Pacheco poses a reliable threat to the beingness information of the ex-girlfriend. The judge besides ordered Pacheco to surrender each firearms, pinch the bid stating her licence to transportation is suspended immediately.
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The ex-girlfriend, whom The Light is not naming, alleged successful her affidavit that she and Pacheco dated for astatine slightest 2 years. In April, the female said, she ended the narration and allegedly started receiving “endless calls” from Pacheco.
“She past generated clone telephone numbers to scope retired to me, calling and texting,” the female wrote. “Showing up to my location unannounced and refuse[d] to time off erstwhile asked … saw maine propulsion into my location while connected duty, sewage retired of her cruiser and refused to fto maine leave.”
“As of precocious location is an unfastened IA investigation of her moving my [license] sheet done Flock to travel me,” the female wrote.
An note from the tribunal beneath the affidavit sounds that the plaintiff “testified to stalking since Apr ’26 + fearfulness + IA investigation.”
A time aft The Light inquired astir Pacheco’s alleged misuse of Flock pinch the Police Department, and hours aft The Light inquired pinch further specifications from the tribunal affidavit, Police Chief Jason Thody announced the department was temporarily suspending its usage of the Flock strategy pending a reappraisal of each past use.
The Light is awaiting a consequence from Thody and NBPD connected the investigation into Pacheco. According to a property merchandise from the section connected the impermanent suspension of Flock, “internal investigations person been opened, and 1 serviceman has been placed connected administrative leave.”
Flock cameras, besides known arsenic automatic licence sheet readers, scan each car, make, model, colour and licence sheet that drives by. That accusation becomes portion of a information web that tin beryllium accessed by constabulary officers and extracurricular rule enforcement agencies.
There person been reports of cases nationwide of constabulary officers abusing the powerful camera exertion to stalk, harass and support tabs connected the movements of ex-romantic partners.
The allegation against Pacheco, if wished to beryllium true, would beryllium a clear usurpation of the New Bedford Police Department’s policy connected Flock use, and a awesome privateness violation. The department’s memorandum of understanding, which each officers must motion earlier utilizing the system, expressly forbids individual usage aliases usage to harass aliases intimidate immoderate person.
“Anyone who engages successful an impermissible usage of the [license sheet reader] strategy aliases associated scan files, aliases basking lists whitethorn beryllium taxable to criminal prosecution and civilian liability on pinch contiguous termination of section access,” the memorandum reads.
Pacheco has been 1 of the apical users of the Flock strategy this year, according to information The Light antecedently obtained from the city. The astir communal logic inputted since April for her searches has been “traffic infraction.”
For immoderate of the postulation infraction searches, Pacheco was searching clip frames spanning a time to complete 1 week.
In April (the period the ex-girlfriend said she ended the relationship), Pacheco ran 18 searches. In May, Pacheco ran 259 searches and successful June, 220, per NBPD data. The Light does not person information for July. In the released data, the metropolis withheld accusation connected the licence sheet accusation and car characteristics that officers whitethorn person entered for their searches.
The metropolis has 20 Flock cameras passim New Bedford. There are besides cameras crossed the authorities and successful surrounding towns, including Dartmouth and Fairhaven. Data shows Pacheco was searching respective networks, sometimes complete 100, which would mean she was accessing information from cameras extracurricular of New Bedford.
The Light contacted Pacheco by email for remark Tuesday. Department argumentation prohibits officers from speaking to the property without support from the constabulary chief. It is simply a argumentation usurpation that tin beryllium disciplined.
“The New Bedford Police Union is alert of an ongoing soul investigation involving Officer Pacheco. Due to the investigation being unfastened and ongoing location will beryllium nary further remark astatine this time,” wrote Ofc. Lorenzo Gonzalez, the national president, successful an email Tuesday.
Gideon Epstein, a exertion master and counsel pinch the ACLU of Massachusetts, said successful a connection that Flock gives constabulary “an unprecedented expertise to way each drivers, sloppy of whether drivers are suspected of immoderate wrongdoing.”
“Allegations of constabulary misuse of surveillance exertion and databases for individual reasons item the request for robust, effective antiauthoritarian oversight, transparency, and accountability mechanisms successful law, policy, and constabulary operations procedures,” Epstein wrote.
In an question and reply early past period pinch The Light erstwhile asked astir really the section would drawback imaginable abuse, Thody said location was nary guarantee that unit would beryllium capable to place it “up front.” He shared a hypothetical of an serviceman intentionally masking a hunt for an ex-girlfriend aliases the caller romanticist partner of an ex.
“When the individual makes a title against the serviceman for stalking him aliases being aggressive, we would beryllium capable to backmost into that and find it, and that whitethorn move a misconduct investigation into a termination case,” Thody said.
“Like each 1 of our databases, an serviceman tin put mendacious accusation successful location to entree the data,” he said. “That’s why the consequences for that are usually criminal… and termination. There’s not a progressive written warning.”
Flock questions
The Light previously reported that constabulary unit responsible for auditing the strategy missed a imaginable misuse by an officer, who entered “immigration” arsenic a logic for his hunt successful January 2026.
The department’s policy prohibits the sharing of immoderate information for national migration enforcement. The section only recovered retired astir this hunt tag successful July aft The Light inquired.
“It is thing that they should’ve seen and asked the mobility good earlier now,” Thody had told The Light. “I’m going to reside it… they did not prime up connected that successful that audit and they should’ve.”
Thody said yet they wished the serviceman did not usage the hunt for immigration, and alternatively deed the incorrect action successful a dropdown menu.
NBPD spokesperson Holly Huntoon past period said the section “recently” enabled a Flock “Audit Assistance feature” to “identify imaginable anomalies aliases different hunt activity, specified arsenic repeated searches of the aforesaid licence sheet complete an extended period, allowing supervisors to reappraisal activity for compliance pinch section policy.”
Massachusetts lacks ineligible guardrails that different New England states person adopted that modulate usage of the exertion by constabulary departments, according to the ACLU of Massachusetts.
Dozens of New Bedford residents vociferously asked (or demanded) past period that the metropolis region the camera system, which it softly adopted successful precocious 2024. One of their stated concerns was that constabulary mightiness maltreatment Flock to stalk their ex-romantic partners.
In response, metropolis councilors revenge motions: 1 calls for a proceeding pinch metropolis officials, and the different calls for the contiguous cessation of the usage of the Flock cameras until an ordinance is adopted regulating their use.
Both motions are scheduled to beryllium heard connected Aug. 20 astatine City Hall successful the assembly chambers. Some residents are readying to protestation earlier and during the session. An online petition that calls for the suspension of Flock by New Bedford and greater transparency has astir 300 signatures.
As for the allegations against Pacheco, location will beryllium different tribunal proceeding this week for a imaginable hold of the maltreatment prevention bid against her.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon astatine [email protected].
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