A 32-year veteran of the Columbus Division of Police has been relieved of duty while investigators examine whether he misused the department's Flock camera system. Officer Stephen O'Brien will remain off the job pending the outcome of the review, according to police.
Police said an ongoing review turned up evidence of potential misuse by O'Brien, though they have not detailed what specific searches or records are at issue, according to myfox28columbus.com. The Columbus Division of Police says it is investigating potential misuse of the technology broadly and has been reviewing how its personnel have used the system, per the same report.
A Department Veteran Sidelined
O'Brien's three decades on the force make his removal notable within the department, though the outlet's reporting does not specify what triggered the review or when it began. The station's account does not indicate whether O'Brien has been accused of a crime, cited for a specific policy violation, or given a chance to respond publicly to the allegations.
A Similar Case In North Carolina
Columbus is not the first department to confront allegations of Flock misuse this year. In Charlotte, North Carolina, officials said Officer Seth Elliot improperly accessed the CJLeads and Flock systems for non-law-enforcement purposes, prompting the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to place him on paid administrative assignment on June 22 and revoke his access to criminal intelligence systems, the outlet reported. After Elliot's arrest on July 29, the department shifted him to unpaid administrative leave while an internal investigation continued. That department does not own or operate Flock cameras itself but has a memorandum of understanding allowing officers to tap into cameras run by other agencies and entities.
Flock Tightens Controls Nationwide
The scrutiny in Columbus and Charlotte comes as Flock Safety rolls out company-wide safeguards following broader reports of officer misuse. Flock announced that all customers will be required to adopt its Audit Assistance feature by the end of 2026, according to The Record. The tool tracks abnormal activity within departments using the technology, flags it for review, and can automatically suspend user accounts while a review is underway.
Flock will also require officers to input case codes tied to an active investigation before conducting most searches, The Record reports. Under changes described by CBS Austin, officers must now tie every vehicle search to a specific criminal case and offense type, and the company is deploying its automated auditing system across all law-enforcement customers to flag unusual searches. Flock is also cutting default data retention from 30 days down to seven, while allowing longer preservation when evidence is attached to a case number, per that report.
The stakes behind those changes are significant. A Washington Post investigation, cited by The Record, found that at least 50 law-enforcement officers nationwide have been charged with misusing Flock's tools. According to WGME, Flock's network spans roughly 120,000 cameras and generates about 20 billion plate scans every month, underscoring the scale of data now under tighter oversight.
For now, the Columbus case remains open, with O'Brien off duty and no timeline given for when the review will conclude.
