Incidents gathered from public reporting around the world. Each one links to the articles it came from. None of it is a finding that anyone broke the law.
Reports people file about their own experience are not shown here and never will be without their agreement. Tell us what happened to you.
44 incidents closest to “Desk Officer Reporting System (DORS)” · matched on meaning · public reporting
The license-plate readers tracked the locations of women's vehicles, enabling officers to stalk them.
1 source article · read the reporting →
New Orleans police secretly used Project NOLA's facial recognition cameras to automatically alert officers to possible crime suspects, potentially violating a city ordinance requiring human review and disclosure. An investigation found the system played a role in dozens of arrests but its use was often not disclosed in police reports. The program was paused in April 2025 pending a review by the police superintendent. The ACLU has called for a permanent halt, warning of threats to privacy and civil rights.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Automated license plate readers captured and retained data on drivers' locations.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Another Columbus officer under investigation for Flock misuse The Columbus Dispatch
1 source article · read the reporting →
The Flock license plate reader system tracked Marissa Todisco's vehicle locations, which Officer Tiso accessed for personal reasons.
1 source article · read the reporting →
The system captured and allowed searching of vehicle location data, impacting the privacy of vehicle owners.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Stockton police disclose Flock misuse, outline oversight changes after employee’s departure Stocktonia News
1 source article · read the reporting →
Three deputies from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia were fired and arrested for allegedly accessing the department’s automated licence plate reader database without a lawful purpose. The misuse was uncovered following a self-initiated audit of the Flock Safety system. All three individuals face charges of violation of oath of office.
3 source articles · read the reporting →
The ALPR system allowed a deputy to track a woman's vehicle movements without legitimate law enforcement purpose.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Automated license plate readers tracked the locations of individuals, enabling deputies to stalk them without their knowledge.
1 source article · read the reporting →
The Chicago Police Department has used the Strategic Subject List since 2012, an algorithm that assigns risk scores to individuals based on arrest records. The list was kept secret until a court forced its release, revealing that 56% of black men aged 20-29 have a score, and only 3.6% of those on the list were involved in violence. Despite claims it is not used for enforcement, documents show it influences police deployment and arrests, leading to allegations of racial bias and lack of transparency.
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Two women from Maine allege that Department of Homeland Security agents used AI-powered surveillance tools to identify them as they recorded federal immigration enforcement operations. The agents threatened to add them to a secret database of domestic terrorists, according to a lawsuit. DHS denies the existence of such a database but says it monitors threats. The lawsuit claims retaliation for exercising First Amendment rights.
1 source article · read the reporting →
A customer of UK parcel delivery firm DPD was trying to track a lost package via the company's AI chatbot. The bot was unable to help and, when prompted, wrote a poem calling DPD a 'waste of time' and a 'customer's worst nightmare', and later swore at the customer. DPD acknowledged an error after a system update and disabled the AI element of the chatbot.
2 source articles · read the reporting →
An audit by the New York City Comptroller found that ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection system used by the NYPD, is overwhelmingly inaccurate. Only 13 percent of alerts in June 2023 corresponded to confirmed shootings, and the system missed over 200 real gunfire incidents in Manhattan in 2022. The NYPD has spent more than $45 million on the system since 2015. The comptroller advised against renewing the contract until the system can be fully evaluated.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
A student at Kenwood High School in Essex, Maryland, was handcuffed and searched by police after an AI gun detection system misidentified his bag of Doritos as a firearm. The system, used by Baltimore County high schools, alerted law enforcement, leading officers to approach Taki Allen with guns drawn. Allen was detained and searched but no weapon was found. The school acknowledged the incident and offered counseling to affected students.
3 source articles · read the reporting →
The U.S. Department of Justice's Pattern risk assessment algorithm, used to determine federal prisoners' eligibility for early release under the First Step Act, was found to produce racial disparities. A December 2021 DOJ report revealed that the tool overpredicted recidivism risk for Black, Hispanic, and Asian inmates, with only 7% of Black prisoners classified as minimum risk compared to 21% of white prisoners. Civil rights groups have called for the suspension of the tool, while the DOJ is working on an overhaul and reevaluating 14,000 prisoners who were misclassified.
1 source article · read the reporting →
An independent report found that the Australian government's Vera-2R terrorism risk assessment tool included autism spectrum disorders as a risk factor without empirical evidence. The tool was used to assess terrorist offenders, influencing post-sentence orders including ongoing detention. Despite the critical report being received in May 2020, the federal and NSW governments continued to use the tool. The report concluded the tool was 'extremely poor' at predicting risk.
1 source article · read the reporting →
In February 2012, the New York City Department of Education publicly released individual Teacher Data Reports rating over 12,000 teachers based on value-added analysis of student test scores. The ratings, originally intended for internal use, were disclosed after a court ruled in favor of media organizations under the Freedom of Information Act. The teachers' union and education experts criticised the data as unreliable due to large margins of error and failure to account for demographic factors, warning that the release would unfairly shame or praise educators. The Department defended the ratings as a useful perspective on teacher effectiveness.
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit mental health support service, uses an AI-driven chat system to collect data from conversations with people in distress. The organization shares anonymized data with its for-profit spinoff, Loris.ai, which uses it to develop customer service software. Critics raise ethical concerns about privacy and consent, though Crisis Text Line asserts the data is stripped of identifying details.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Jail and prison officials in at least three states deployed Verus, a software by LEO Technologies, to scan inmate phone calls for keywords related to COVID-19. The system transcribes and analyzes calls, flagging mentions of symptoms or the virus. Advocacy groups argue the surveillance is an abuse of privacy and could lead to retaliation against inmates raising concerns about conditions. The software is funded by Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy and has been deployed in Georgia, Alabama, and California.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
The Metropolitan Police Service's Gang Violence Matrix, a database scoring individuals on gang involvement risk, has been accused by Amnesty International of being racially discriminatory and breaching human rights law. The matrix, set up after the 2011 London riots, holds data on about 3,800 people, with 78% being black. The Information Commissioner's Office is investigating the database.
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Durham Constabulary developed the Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART), a machine learning algorithm that assesses the recidivism risk of offenders. The tool uses 34 data categories including criminal history, age, gender and two types of postcode, one sourced from Experian's Mosaic marketing segmentation system. Big Brother Watch alleges that using such commercial consumer behaviour data to inform custody decisions risks prejudice and disproportionate targeting of deprived neighbourhoods. The force has stated it is refreshing the model with an aim to remove one of the postcode predictors.
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Human Rights Watch reverse-engineered a police app used in Xinjiang, China, revealing that the Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP) collects vast personal data and flags individuals as suspicious based on broad criteria. The system targets ethnic Uyghurs and Turkic Muslims, leading to mass arbitrary detention, forced indoctrination, and movement restrictions. The Chinese government operates the system, supplied by a subsidiary of CETC, and has not informed or obtained consent from those surveilled. The report calls for shutting down the system and releasing detainees.
2 source articles · read the reporting →
The Information Commissioner's Office found that the Metropolitan Police Service's Gangs Matrix breached data protection laws, including by assigning automated harm scores to people suspected of gang involvement without proper impact assessments or safeguards. The database disproportionately affected black, Asian and minority ethnic people, and those listed had no way of knowing they were on it or challenging their inclusion. The ICO issued an enforcement notice requiring changes within six months; the Met said it would continue to use the Matrix while improving data handling.
8 source articles · read the reporting →
