STOW — Police Chief Michael Sallese and Town Administrator Denise M. Dembkoski have announced that the Town of Stow is pursuing termination proceedings and the Stow Police Department is pursuing criminal charges against an officer after allegations of misuse of Flock cameras to obtain information about what has been reported to be a former girlfriend.
Stow Police learned of the allegations of serious misconduct on June 18, when the victim filed a complaint with the Police Department. Within three hours of receiving that complaint, the department placed Officer Jason Rogers, a detective and acting sergeant, on paid administrative leave and revoked his access to department systems.
Chief Sallese then began a thorough internal affairs investigation into the allegations. Police said the investigation determined that Rogers unlawfully accessed Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) through the Criminal Justice Information Services system on at least five occasions, and ran vehicle information through both Flock Safety and CJIS systems on multiple dates for no legitimate law enforcement reason.
State law prohibits accessing the Criminal Justice Information Services for non-policing purposes.
Police said that the internal affairs investigation sustained findings of conduct unbecoming of an officer, improper use of an official position, failure to comply with written orders, use of false and unsubstantiated search reasons, and violations of department policies surrounding law enforcement databases.
The Stow Select Board scheduled an employment status hearing with Rogers on July 30, which was postponed. The town placed Rogers on unpaid leave on July 31. The employment status hearing has been rescheduled to Aug. 26.
After receiving the findings of the internal affairs investigation, the Stow Police Department also opened a criminal investigation into the unauthorized Criminal Justice Information Services queries. As a result, the department has filed a criminal complaint seeking charges against Rogers, and the matter has been forwarded to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.
Chief Sallese also forwarded the complete internal affairs report to the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission so the agency can take appropriate action regarding Rogers’ certification to work as a police officer in the commonwealth.
Cameras taken down
Also, as a direct result of the conduct, Chief Sallese has terminated the department’s relationship with Flock Safety. The Police Department physically removed the final Flock automated license plate reader it operated in Stow in early August.
The police removed two other Flock cameras earlier in 2026 after evaluating their effectiveness.
Recognizing the vital public safety potential of plate-reader technology, Chief Sallese will be presenting an updated plate-reader policy to the Select Board for future consideration, outlining the procedures officers would have to follow and the chain of approval that would be required to request such information from an outside agency and for any future reimplementation of similar systems.
But officials reiterated that there are no plans to bring the cameras back at this time.
This includes explicit and specific use criteria, supervisory approval before use and aggressive logging and reporting requirements.
The Stow Police Department said it has used plate-reader information to solve crimes and locate missing persons in town, but feels it must evaluate the safeguards, policies and oversight needed prior to any future use of such technology.
“Law enforcement officers are entrusted with access to sensitive information solely so they can perform their official duties and protect the public,” Chief Sallese said. “Using that access for a personal purpose is a serious violation of that trust, and it is a crime. When we received this complaint, we acted within hours to remove the officer from duty and protect department systems. We conducted a thorough investigation and are pursuing both employment and criminal accountability.”
“The actions of one individual do not represent the values or conduct we expect from the good and dedicated members of the Stow Police Department,” Town Administrator Dembkoski said. “The Department’s leadership responded immediately after receiving a concerning complaint and took swift and decisive action and followed the evidence to generate a comprehensive internal affairs report. We will continue working to ensure that the public has confidence in how sensitive law enforcement information is accessed and protected.”
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