Automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) are among the fastest-growing forms of mass surveillance, logging over 20 billion license plate scans per month. This technology, which can track and locate vehicles and their drivers in near real time, is increasingly used by law enforcement to help investigate crimes without first obtaining a warrant. But without proper oversight, privacy experts warn such a trove of personal data is ripe for abuse. 

Take the case of Lamar Roman, a 28-year-old married sheriff's deputy living in South Florida, who couldn't resist the temptation to use these powerful surveillance tools for his own personal gain. 

Dashcam footage published earlier this week by 404media shows the Monroe County sheriff's deputy speeding through traffic in early February. He dangerously weaves through traffic on a two-lane highway, hitting speeds over 70 mph. At one point, he almost causes a head-on collision. Roman eventually catches up to and pulls over his target: a 27-year-old woman suspected of no wrongdoing. He'd simply met the woman a few weeks earlier while he worked a security detail on the set of Bad Monkey, an Apple TV series filmed in the Florida Keys.

In a recorded police interview, the woman, whose identity is being kept private, told investigators that Roman made her feel uncomfortable as soon as she arrived on set as an extra. "Immediately it was like, 'Oh my God, why did nobody tell me they were bringing models to set?'" the woman told investigators. At first, she didn't know whether Roman was a real cop or dressed to play one on the show when he pressured her for her name, number, and Instagram handle, reports 404media. 

"I need your name and number just in case I pull you over someday," Roman told the woman, according to the arrest warrant reviewed by 404media. The woman later told investigators that Roman appeared to be flirting and joking. In response, she tried to be "standoffish" and told him she had a boyfriend.  

So when she was pulled over a few weeks later, the woman told investigators she knew it was Roman. When she asked him during the stop how he'd known it was her, she told investigators he replied, "I told you I'd find you and pull you over," and stated, "I was hoping your boyfriend was in the car so I can pull him out and give him a hard time," reports 404media. Roman then asked why she hadn't followed him back on Instagram. 

Eventually, Roman allowed the woman to leave. But it wasn't until the woman spoke with investigators that she was "advised [on] the full extent to which Deputy Roman utilized law enforcement databases to search her and obtain personal information about her," one police investigator wrote, according to 404media. Shortly after meeting the woman on set, Roman used a sophisticated network of police surveillance tools "to pull the woman's identity, vehicle information, and current photo," reports Gadget Review. 

In the video of his interview with police, Roman told investigators that he was "just teasing" the woman on the set of Bad Monkey, and that he believed she was flirting back with him. He also said he messaged her on Instagram but didn't receive a reply. 

Roman then admitted to running the woman's name through the agency's identification database and finding her driver's license number. In turn, he put the woman's driver's license number into the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles database used by law enforcement to find her license plate number. Finally, Roman added her license plate to a hotlist on the Guardian ALPR system, according to 404media. The Guardian system then provided Roman with real-time alerts on the woman's vehicle location, which he used to track her and pull her over. Throughout this process, Roman admitted to having no legal justification, and he was never required to obtain a warrant.

"I know it's stupid," Roman told the investigators. "It's a tough month," he continued, "and I saw a shiny thing."  

According to court records, Roman was arrested on March 10 on three counts of misusing a law enforcement database, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. He was subsequently fired from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office following his arrest. On July 1, he entered a two-year-long pretrial intervention agreement that, if completed, will result in the dismissal of all charges against Roman.

"The fundamental problem with these systems is that they place private information about people's movements over time in the hands of every officer," Michael Soyfer, an Institute for Justice attorney who has brought legal challenges against ALPR surveillance networks, said in a statement. "Without the constitutional safeguards of a warrant requirement, that predictably allows officers to abuse their access to these systems for things like stalking romantic partners." 

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