// HACKER NEWS — CYBERSECURITY
New Bedford police officer accused of using Flock cameras to track ex-partner
NEW BEDFORD — A city police officer has been accused by an ex-girlfriend of using Flock license plate readers to follow her, according to an affidavit filed this week for an abuse prevention order.
The officer faces an internal affairs investigation, the police union president has confirmed, though he would not share for what reasons.
Emily Pacheco, who works as a patrol officer, was served the abuse prevention order on Monday, with a judge determining Pacheco poses a credible threat to the physical safety of the ex-girlfriend. The judge also ordered Pacheco to surrender all firearms, with the order stating her license to carry is suspended immediately.
The ex-girlfriend, whom The Light is not naming, alleged in her affidavit that she and Pacheco dated for at least two years. In April, the woman said, she ended the relationship and allegedly started receiving “endless calls” from Pacheco.
“She then generated fake phone numbers to reach out to me, calling and texting,” the woman wrote. “Showing up to my home unannounced and refuse[d] to leave when asked … saw me pull into my home while on duty, got out of her cruiser and refused to let me leave.”
“As of recently there is an open IA investigation of her running my [license] plate through Flock to follow me,” the woman wrote.
An annotation from the court below the affidavit reads that the plaintiff “testified to stalking since Apr ’26 + fear + IA investigation.”
A day after The Light inquired about Pacheco’s alleged misuse of Flock with the Police Department, and hours after The Light inquired with further details from the court affidavit, Police Chief Jason Thody announced the department was temporarily suspending its use of the Flock system pending a review of all past use.
The Light is awaiting a response from Thody and NBPD on the investigation into Pacheco. According to a press release from the department on the temporary suspension of Flock, “internal investigations have been opened, and one officer has been placed on administrative leave.”
Flock cameras, also known as automatic license plate readers, scan every car, make, model, color and license plate that drives by. That information becomes part of a data network that can be accessed by police officers and outside law enforcement agencies.