Caught but Ignored: How Audit Logs Exposed Police Surveillance Abuse—Then Failed to Stop It

Audit logs have documented 14 cases of U.S. police officers abusing automated license-plate readers to track individuals for personal purposes—including ex-partners, romantic interests, and strangers. Although these query records existed and were comprehensive from the moment of each abuse, investigations only opened after victims filed complaints. This gap exposes a fundamental failure: government surveillance tools designed for public safety lack proactive oversight, making misconduct detection dependent entirely on victim-initiated reports instead of systematic internal controls.