Records released under freedom-of-information rules in New York show three Cheektowaga Police Department employees searched one colleague’s licence plate 219 times between May 2025 and April 2026.
The breakdown was 123 searches, 72 and 24, according to reporting on the 56-page internal report. Two dispatchers received 45-day suspensions and the officer, then a dispatcher, got 20 days. All three signed one-year last-chance agreements.
Each search returned time and location hits covering anything from a single day to more than a month, and together they broke five department policies. The employees said rumours about two co-workers prompted them to start.
Erie County prosecutors filed no charges, concluding the conduct did not reach criminal conduct. Detection came from an audit nobody had requested.
Cheektowaga now keeps plate data seven days instead of 30 and requires a case number per search. The town’s supervisor said access and oversight have changed, with more work to do.
The report itself praises the network for solving crimes while warning that rumour-driven use erodes public trust.
