A Florida cop used government cameras to track his ex-wife 717 times without her knowledge.
Now the technology that made it possible has the governor of Florida furious.
And Ron DeSantis just revealed this horrible reality about Flock cameras.
Florida Cop Turned Surveillance Tech Into a Stalking Tool
Officer Christopher Goodson of the Haines City Police Department didn't just abuse the Flock camera system once or twice.
He did it 717 times.
Between September 2024 and June 2026, Goodson searched his estranged wife's license plate in the Flock database nearly every other day for nearly two years.
To cover his tracks, he invented crimes that never happened – logging road rage incidents, drug investigations, and felony assaults that existed nowhere except in his search justifications.
Goodson has now been arrested on charges of official misconduct and computer crimes.
https://twitter.com/ReOpenChris/status/2092638802556666168?s=20
The system has a supposed safeguard requiring officers to enter a reason before pulling any plate's location data.
Goodson just made up the reasons.
DeSantis didn't sugarcoat his reaction when reporters asked about the case Wednesday.
"When I see like a police officer using this to track like an ex-girlfriend, I'm like what the hell's going on with this," DeSantis said.
The Governor Tried to Stop This and Got Blocked
DeSantis didn't arrive at this moment empty-handed.
He pushed an AI Bill of Rights through the Florida Senate – twice.
The Republican-controlled House killed it – twice.
Once during the regular session in March.
Again during a special session in April.
The governor has been warning anyone who would listen that AI surveillance technology was expanding faster than the rules governing it.
"It's going to get a lot worse unless we have some protections for the people in Florida," DeSantis said Wednesday.
The House's position, driven by Speaker Daniel Perez, was that AI regulation belongs at the federal level.
But there is no federal law.
https://twitter.com/CryptidPolitics/status/2092642304133607908?s=20
Florida has 7,169 Flock cameras – ranking tenth in the country per capita and sixth per road mile.
Those cameras are approved at the county and municipal level, with no statewide oversight.
"The only way it could be dealt with is legislatively," DeSantis said.
The Legislature had its chance.
It passed.
This Problem Is Bigger Than One Rogue Cop
Goodson's case isn't isolated.
A Georgia police chief searched Flock records for an ex-girlfriend and her teenage daughter roughly 600 times.
A Wisconsin officer ran the plates of his ex-girlfriend and her new partner 179 times.
A South Carolina officer was fired after doing the same thing 166 times.
The pattern is nationwide.
Flock operates 120,000 cameras across every state except Alaska.
Unlike traffic camera footage held by city governments, Flock's data belongs to the company – not the agencies using it.
That puts it outside the reach of public records requests, leaving citizens with no way to find out who has looked them up, when, or why.
Cities in 23 states have canceled or rejected Flock contracts in 2026 alone.
Flock just announced it will now require case numbers for every search and cut data retention from 30 days to seven days – but only after years of leaving those safeguards optional.
DeSantis pointed to New Hampshire as the model going forward.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2092679501335396471?s=20
New Hampshire keeps Flock cameras off public roads by default, allowing police limited use only when vehicle data is deleted quickly.
He's right to look north.
What Florida has right now is a network of thousands of AI cameras tracking the movements of law-abiding citizens, owned by a private company, with verification requirements that a determined cop can bypass in about ten seconds.
"But I don't want to have this become a surveillance state," DeSantis said.
The Republican House gave him no tools to prevent it.
Now one more Florida woman had her movements tracked 717 times by someone who had no legal right to know where she was.
The cameras are still up.
Sources:
- Michael Costeines, "DeSantis Calls Automated License Plate Readers 'Out of Control' as Flock Cameras Debate Continues," August 26, 2026.
- "Florida Police Officer Arrested for Using Flock Cameras to Stalk Ex-Wife 717 Times," Yahoo News, August 2026.
- "Flock announces security changes after dozens of reports of law enforcement abuse," ABC News, August 14, 2026.
- Ben Smith, "Flocked-Up: Florida Cop Allegedly Used Flock 717 Times to Track His Estranged Wife," RedState, August 2026.
- "Flock Is Losing Dozens of Contracts as Controversy Grows," Futurism, August 2026.
