KENOSHA, Wis. — A former Kenosha County sheriff's deputy faces two felony charges after an internal audit caught him allegedly using a license plate reader database to track his romantic partner, who was also a fellow deputy.
Frank McGrath faces two counts of misconduct in public office. Internal investigative records obtained by TMJ4’s Lighthouse investigative team show 16 Flock camera searches at the center of the allegations — all conducted over four hours while McGrath was off-duty last September.
Kenosha County investigators flagged the searches as suspicious after McGrath listed "suspicious" as the reason for each one.
WATCH: Former Kenosha County sheriff's deputy charged with misusing license plate reader to track fellow deputy
A restraining order petition filed by the victim revealed that "Defendant McGrath had driven past her home in Waukegan, Illinois on the same day he ran her vehicle through FLOCK and questioned her regarding who had access to her car and where she or another person was heading."
The Kenosha County Sheriff's Office operates a network of Flock cameras that photograph the rear of every passing vehicle. That information is stored in a database.
Court records show texts McGrath sent to the victim in which he said his actions "got out of hand" and that he "lost control."
Prosecutors say McGrath also misused a separate police tool 40 times against the same victim — technology that provides live GPS locations of on-duty squad cars. A separation agreement obtained by TMJ4 shows McGrath resigned in late December.
TMJ4 obtained district attorney records showing McGrath was placed on Kenosha County's Brady List in March, meaning District Attorney Xavier Solis determined that credibility concerns about McGrath had to be disclosed to defense attorneys in criminal cases he investigated.
"If law enforcement is going to entrust an officer to use a Flock camera, and if law enforcement is using a Flock camera, meaning that the public is entrusting an individual to use a Flock camera, then if you betray that trust, then I believe you should be on the Brady list," Solis said.
TMJ4 spoke with District Attorney Solis in July about Flock misuse becoming a pipeline to the Brady list. He acknowledged that public confidence in the technology has been shaken.
"What I'm gathering is that the public does not have trust in Flock cameras, at least the majority of the public. I'm not saying all, and they want to know what's going on," Solis said.
TMJ4 reached out to McGrath but has not yet heard back. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance next month.
The Kenosha County Sheriff's Office says it has made changes to its Flock database policy, including narrowing the search window from 30 to 7 days.
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