MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee Police Department detective now faces charges for allegedly abusing the same license plate reader technology he was assigned to investigate another officer for misusing.
Suspended MPD Detective Tehrangi Chapman faces two charges, including felony misconduct in public office, for allegedly using the department's automated license plate reading technology to track two people's movements around the city.
Court records show Chapman was one of the internal affairs detectives who investigated former MPD Officer Josue Ayala's misuse of the department's Flock Safety automated license plate reader system. Prosecutors say Chapman did the same thing.
Watch: Milwaukee police detective charged with misusing Flock surveillance cameras
Ayala is scheduled to be sentenced for using Flock to search his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend more than 200 times. That sentencing is scheduled one week after Chapman's charges were announced.
According to prosecutors, Chapman searched the locations of the two victims a total of 20 times. The Flock Safety camera database is only supposed to be used for criminal investigations, and officers are required to enter a reason for each search for auditing purposes. Prosecutors say Chapman entered the search terms "test" and "training."
MPD asked an outside agency — the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office — to investigate the matter.
Chapman, a detective with 22 years of service with MPD, has been suspended for the past four months. MPD says he remains on full suspension.
The Milwaukee Police Department declined an interview request, referring instead to Chief Norman's written statement, in which he says the department is committed to integrity and accountability.
Chapman's attorney has not responded to a request for comment.
Chapman is not in custody. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance next Friday — two days after former MPD Officer Ayala is scheduled to be sentenced.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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