Two former Reynoldsburg Police officers may have made as many as 100 personal searches on the department's license plate-reading cameras.
Mark Nichols resigned from the Reynoldsburg Police Department on July 13, before internal investigators could interview him about his alleged misuse of the agency's Flock Safety cameras.
A document from an internal affairs investigation said Nichols searched the same plate 46 times between December 2025 and June 2026.
During much of that time, Nichols was on medical leave for a serious illness. Nichols searched one other plate on June 10, even though he "should not have been accessing Flock Safety for any reason while on leave."
The bulk of the searches seemed to be for a plate belonging to someone who had been Nichols' domestic partner. An investigator noted that Nichols and the person had been listed together in a domestic disturbance report, and that the unidentified person's name also appeared in Nichols' personnel file and on an emergency contact form.
Nichols used the code for an "errand" when he searched the plates.
Reynoldsburg Police did not discipline Nichols because he resigned. Investigative documents recommended not pressing criminal charges against Nichols due to his bad health, though that could change if his health improves.
Another officer, Alissa Birkhimer, allegedly searched for one license plate 53 times between January and June of this year.
Birkhimer initially indicated that the searches were related to theft, then later listed searches as being for a missing or endangered person.
Birkhimer added a case number for her June searches. Internal investigators could find no connection between the plate and the case, which involved a search for an elderly woman with dementia.
Birkhimer resigned on July 16, one day before she was supposed to appear for an interview into allegations of misconduct.
Documents provided in a records request did not indicate whether Reynoldsburg Police would press criminal charges against Birkhimer.
Nichols had been a Reynoldsburg Police officer since January 2016. He was assigned to "light duty" because of his health in October 2025, and had been on medical leave since March.
Birkhimer had served with the department since December 2022.
Reynoldsburg Police Chief Curtis Baker has said the division became aware of the possible misuse of the cameras during a "proactive audit of the system."
"Earning and maintaining the trust of the public is of utmost importance to me," Baker wrote in a statement. "The use of any police database or computer system, to include Flock Safety, for non-law enforcement purposes is serious and will not be tolerated within the Reynoldsburg Division of Police."
Reynoldsburg Police did not provide further comment or answer a question about how often officers' use of Flock cameras are reviewed.
