Police officer accused of using Flock cameras to track boyfriend’s ex

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Former Mooresville police officer Elizabeth Anne Snowman was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with misusing the department’s automatic license plate reader system.

Mooresville Police Chief Ron Campurciani announced the charges Wednesday evening, stating that Snowman was taken into custody when she arrived for work.

Investigators allege Snowman used the Flock camera system 31 times to track her boyfriend’s ex-wife. The department reported that two of those instances occurred while Snowman was off-duty.

During a media briefing Wednesday afternoon, Campurciani expressed frustration that the incident occurred shortly after a similar case involving a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer who was arrested last week for allegedly misusing license plate reader cameras.

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“This is frustrating and aggravating at the same time,” Campurciani said. “Look at this there is another cop abusing the system. That’s what bothers me the most. The people who use this stuff for personal use, like she did, can’t think past their nose.”

Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel for the ACLU, criticized the widespread use of the technology. He noted that even when used correctly, the systems raise significant privacy concerns.

“The overall largest problem with them is the extent to which they surveil every one of us,” Marlow said.

He added that targeting by law enforcement creates a difficult situation for victims. “When you think about the people who are actually being targeted and how scary it is to actually be targeted by a police officer. Because what do you do? Report them to the police?” Marlow said.

While critics raise privacy issues, some agencies maintain the technology is a necessary tool for law enforcement.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation submitted a report to the North Carolina General Assembly in April detailing instances where the cameras were used to solve crimes.

The bureau stated the system helped identify murder suspects, missing persons, and at least one individual on the terrorist watch list.

Marlow compared the use of mass surveillance to extreme measures of crime prevention.

“No one would accept the idea if someone said, ‘Hey, I can stop all crime by putting every single person in jail.’ There’s no more crime, right? But the solution is worse than the problem,” Marlow said.

The Mooresville Police Department said it is investigating 10 additional employees for potential misuse of the camera system.

Campurciani stated that three of those cases appear problematic and indicated that more charges could be filed as the investigation continues.