AI incident #1690 ·
Kechi, Kansas Police Lieutenant Victor Heiar Used Flock Safety License-Plate Reader System to Monitor Estranged Wife
What happened
Kechi, Kansas police lieutenant Victor Heiar used Wichita police's Flock Safety license-plate reader system to search his estranged wife's plate and review her movements over the prior month. An arrest affidavit said Heiar acknowledged knowing the use was improper; his wife said she felt violated and unsafe. He later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor stalking and computer crime and received 18 months' probation.
Editor's notes (AI Incident Database)
(1) 10/23/2022: date of documented Flock misuse; (2) 10/26/2022: Heiar arrested and Kechi Police Department's access to Wichita's Flock database revoked; (3) 04/05/2023: pleaded guilty to misdemeanor stalking and computer crime and received 18 months' probation; (4) 08/2023: Kansas revoked his law-enforcement certification. (5) 09/16/2026 incident ID created.
Only the incident metadata is stored here. The underlying news reports are on the AI Incident Database (CC BY-SA 4.0); use the links above to read them.
News reports (6)
Coverage catalogued by the AI Incident Database. Titles link to the original publisher; the text is not reproduced here.
Who was involved
- Alleged deployer
- Wichita Police Department (Kansas) Victor Heiar Stalkers Law enforcement Kechi Police Department (Kansas)
- Alleged developer
- Surveillance technology developers Flock Safety Automated license plate reader (ALPR) developers
- Alleged harmed party
- Women and girls Women Victor Heiar's estranged wife Privacy Individuals whose license plate data were accessed for non-law-enforcement purposes
AI systems implicated
Surveillance technologyFlock Safety automated license plate reader systemAutomated license plate reader (ALPR) developers
Classification (MIT AI Risk Repository taxonomy)
- Risk domain
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- Risk subdomain
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- Causal entity
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- Intent
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- Timing
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- Harm level
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Related incidents on the AI Incident Database
Linked by AIID editors or by its text-similarity model.
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- Detroit Police Allegedly Wrongfully Arrested Black Man Due to Purportedly Faulty Facial Recognition Technology
- New Jersey Police Wrongful Arrested Innocent Black Man via FRT
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