Columbus, Ohio has relieved a second officer of duty in its probe of the city’s automated license plate camera network. Officer Stephen O’Brien, a 32-year veteran, was pulled September 25.
Three weeks after Tellis
The first domino: officer Melvin Tellis, caught running more than 200 searches on a single vehicle — searches the chief said were not tied to any case. The same day Tellis was relieved, Mayor Andrew Ginther suspended the city’s entire Flock camera system: “What I have learned has shaken my trust.”
The pattern reaches beyond Columbus
A Charlotte officer was arrested in July for misusing the same network. Flock is now requiring case codes for every search and rolling out mandatory audits by the end of 2026.
Watch the breakdown
Sources
1. WOSU
2. Hoodline
3. WSYX / ABC 6
4. 10TV
#OhDangReally #FlockCameras #ColumbusOhio
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