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Milwaukee detective assigned to investigate Flock camera misuse misused the same system to track two people, prosecutors alleged

Milwaukee Police Department Internal Affairs Detective Tehrangi Chapman, who had been assigned to investigate officer Josue Ayala for misusing the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system, was himself charged on July 9, 2026, with felony misconduct in public office and misdemeanor misuse of a GPS device. Prosecutors allege Chapman ran unauthorized Flock searches on two individuals roughly 17 to 20 times between January 2024 and January 2025, logging the searches as "training" or "test," and secretly installed a physical GPS tracker on one victim's car without a warrant or consent. Chapman, a 22-year MPD veteran who was suspended with pay in March 2026, admitted in charging documents to using the database and tracker for personal reasons.

Part of: Police Using License-Plate Camera Networks to Stalk

Jurisdiction
Wisconsin
Location
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Abuses documented

Actors

  • Tehrangi Chapman (Milwaukee Police Department, Internal Affairs Division detective)
  • Milwaukee Police Department

On July 9, 2026, Milwaukee County prosecutors charged Milwaukee Police Department Internal Affairs Detective Tehrangi Chapman with felony misconduct in public office and misdemeanor misuse of a GPS device, alleging he misused the same Flock automated license-plate-reader system he had been assigned to investigate. Chapman, a 22-year MPD veteran, was the detective who investigated fellow officer Josue Ayala for using Flock searches to track his ex-partner; a broader system audit that grew out of the Ayala investigation surfaced Chapman's own conduct.

According to the criminal complaint, Chapman ran Flock searches on two individuals roughly 17 to 20 times between January 2024 and January 2025, logging the searches under false justifications such as "training" or "test." Investigators also found that Chapman had secretly installed a physical GPS tracking device under one victim's car without a warrant or the vehicle owner's consent; records show the device was traced to a purchase made by Chapman. Charging documents state Chapman admitted to using the department's database and the tracker for personal reasons. He was suspended with pay on March 13, 2026, when the case was referred to the district attorney's office, and his initial court appearance was scheduled for July 17, 2026.

Why we recorded this

Officials who enforce the law are expected to follow it themselves; when the person investigating misuse of a government surveillance system is found to have committed the same misuse, that expectation collapses into self-exemption. Milwaukee Internal Affairs Detective Tehrangi Chapman, tasked with investigating a fellow officer's Flock camera abuse, was charged with running his own unauthorized searches and planting an unwarranted GPS tracker on a private citizen's car. This archive records government officials who personally violate the rules they are responsible for enforcing against others.

Sources

  1. MPD investigator in Flock stalking case now accused of own misuse — Urban Milwaukee primary accessed July 13, 2026
  2. 2nd Milwaukee officer charged with using Flock cameras for stalking — FOX11 Online (WLUK) secondary accessed July 13, 2026
  3. Milwaukee police detective charged with misusing police Flock camera system — NBC26 (WGBA) secondary accessed July 13, 2026

See also