Former Amarillo, Texas, police officer Christian Eder is facing 78 criminal charges for tampering with a government record after an internal audit discovered he used police databases to track a local father 76 times over a five-month span, News Channel 10 reports. This discovery comes just hours before Amarillo Police Chief Thomas Hover is scheduled to address the City Council regarding the department’s surveillance technology and potential new safeguards.
The victim, who spoke anonymously, described the harrowing experience of realizing his daily routines were being monitored by a member of law enforcement. He explained that he is a creature of habit, and the tracking made him feel like his privacy was entirely compromised.
The situation began after Eder developed a personal interest in a female officer whom the victim had previously dated. According to the victim, Eder utilized his department-issued work phone to remotely access the female officer’s active in-car and body cameras to track her location.
Eder reportedly used the city’s Flock cameras to surveil
The victim realized his safety was at risk when he left his apartment for the gym at 1:00 AM and spotted Eder’s marked patrol unit driving slowly through the parking lot. Shortly after this, the female officer informed him that Eder had approached her at work and mentioned seeing the victim leave his apartment at that specific hour.
Hoping to end the behavior, the victim sent Eder a text message asking him to stop. Eder responded with, “lol, tough guy. Whatever y’all got going on is between y’all. Keep it that way. Have fun, my dude” followed by a winky face.
The investigation revealed that Eder used the city’s Flock Automated License Plate Reader system to track the man’s vehicle 76 times and ran his name twice in the TLOxp database. Eder often typed in false justifications for these searches, such as “city planning” or “want.”
Because Eder was a SWAT alternate with tactical training, the victim felt the threat to his family was severe. He noted, “I’ve had to change where my kids sleep in my house. I’ve had to change everything,” adding that the experience has been taxing on every facet of his life.
Although the Amarillo Police Department fired Eder on July 17, the legal process has been frustrating for the victim. Prosecutors refused to pursue felony stalking charges, and because the remaining tampering charges technically list the City of Amarillo as the victim, the man has struggled to access standard victim advocacy services.
He expressed his frustration with the system, stating, “In what world can you shirk responsibility for this by saying, ‘It’s not your problem?’ How, all of a sudden, am I not the victim?”
Before this case, officers were able to access Flock tracking software on their work phones while off-duty without any automatic alerts for high-volume searches. The victim believes that if the city had proper policies in place, this never would have occurred.
He feels the department is currently more focused on navigating the fallout than helping those affected. “It feels like they’re not trying to help me,” he said. “They’re trying to help themselves and navigate this. But I still have to look behind my back.”
At 3:00 PM today, Chief Hover is expected to present new safeguards to the City Council, including shorter data-retention periods and tighter software access. The department has asked the public to wait for this presentation regarding the lack of oversight and allegations that off-duty officers have remotely viewed colleagues’ body camera feeds. Eder turned himself in at the Potter County Jail and was released on a single $4,500 bond for all 78 charges.
Published: Sep 10, 2026 05:18 pm