This week, two former Missouri cops were accused in separate, unrelated federal court proceedings for allegedly unlawfully searching women’s phones during traffic stops in order to collect explicit, intimate photographs from the devices.
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri stated Thursday that 29-year-old Julian Alcala, a former Florissant police officer, was charged with 20 counts of deprivation of rights and one count of destroying records in a federal investigation.
According to the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, being free from unjustified search and seizure is particularly referred to as deprivation of rights.
During traffic stops, Alcala would confiscate women’s phones to verify their insurance or vehicle registration, according to the federal indictment. However, according to the indictment, he shot pictures on his own phone and looked through their phones for naked pictures.
Authorities claim that in one instance, Alcala texted a video to himself and erased any traces of the message. From February 6 to May 18, he is said to have done that to 20 women.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Florissant Police Department claimed to be totally ignorant of the accusations. According to the department, Alcala had passed a “meticulous and thorough background investigation” throughout the hiring process and had not been the subject of a complaint during his 11 months on the job.
“We are disgusted at this behavior, which is a complete betrayal of the values we uphold and in no way reflects the professionalism and integrity of our dedicated officers,” the department stated. “We recognize the gravity of this breach of trust and its impact on our community.”
According to a police department statement, Alcala resigned in June after the FBI contacted the agency regarding an investigation against him.
Alcala and the city have also been the target of civil lawsuits, one of which parallels a federal prosecutor’s accusation. Alcala allegedly transmitted himself a private video of a couple having sex, according to a case filed in the same district court last month.
According to the lawsuit, when Jane Doe was stopped over in February and showed the insurance information she had saved on her phone, Alcala returned it to his car. The statement claims that she became aware that “there was a deleted text message” at the moment of the stop.
“In an effort to hide his tracks,” the lawsuit claimed, Alcala deleted the message and emailed the video to himself. During the same stop, he is also charged with taking a naked picture from her phone.
Six individuals are being represented by lawyer Bevis Schock in a legal lawsuit against the city of Alcala. His clientele, he told KSDK, are “real nice, normal people who do what police officers say.”
“The way this started was the FBI called the victims,” Schock stated. “And each victim said, ‘Well, I got pulled over, and he took my phone back.'”
According to court documents, Alcala was the subject of a warrant issued on Wednesday. He may or may not be in detention. There is no attorney named for him, and he has not been in court.
A former Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper was the target of a related but unrelated prosecution filed by the U.S. attorney’s office on Tuesday.
In the same federal court, 39-year-old David McKnight was charged with nine counts of deprivation of rights and one count of record destruction. According to federal authorities, he was employed by the highway patrol from September 2023 to August 2024 and unlawfully checked the phones of nine women.
The U.S. attorney’s office claims that when the women handed over their phones to McKnight so he could demonstrate their identification or insurance, he took shots of naked photos on their phones using his own phone. According to the office, the majority of the ladies were stopped for traffic violations.
According to a statement, McKnight joined the Highway Patrol in 2021. According to the statement, the department’s investigators arrested him on August 21 after opening a criminal inquiry in August.
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According to documents, McKnight gave up his state peace officer license, “which means he can never work as a Missouri law enforcement officer again,” the Missouri Department of Public Safety informed. The cases of McKnight and Alcala are unrelated, according to the federal prosecutor’s office.
According to court documents, a judge imposed a $10,000 bond after he was placed under federal custody on Thursday. He entered a not guilty plea.
People should not be afraid to report unpleasant interactions with cops, according to Ashley Johnson, special agent in charge of the FBI St. Louis Division. According to an announcement from the U.S. attorney’s office, the FBI looked into both incidents.
