A total of 5,719 Flock audit records were reviewed. Of those, 3,938 records contained a case number, while 1,781 records, or 31.1%, had no case number entered in the system’s Case # field. The records show that 43 officers or users had at least one entry without a case number.
The purpose of this audit is to document the frequency and distribution of missing case-number information, identify patterns within the available records, and examine what those records reveal about documentation and accountability surrounding Niles Police Department’s use of Flock Safety.
A blank Case # field does not, by itself, establish that a search was improper, unauthorized, or unlawful. Individual searches may have had legitimate law-enforcement purposes documented elsewhere. The findings instead identify a documentation issue and raise questions about how searches without case numbers were linked to underlying incidents or investigations and how those searches were reviewed by supervisors.
The audit is based on Niles Police Department Flock Safety records obtained through public-records requests and reflects what is documented in the records reviewed.