A father moved his children’s beds to different rooms. He changed their school pickup routes. He had no idea what his pursuer’s personal car looked like — but that pursuer knew exactly what time he left for the gym at 1 a.m. For five months, a former Amarillo Police Department officer allegedly used two law enforcement tools — FLOCK, an automated license plate reader system that logs vehicle locations across the city, and TLOxp, an investigative database containing addresses, phone numbers, and vehicle records — to track a romantic rival 78 times. No case. No call. No justification that holds up.
78 Searches. Zero Legitimate Reasons.
APD’s own audit found not a single legitimate police purpose behind any of Christian Eder’s searches.
Between February and June 2026, Eder allegedly ran the victim’s license plate through FLOCK 76 times and queried his name twice in TLOxp. For justification, he typed things like “city planning” and “want” into the system. The motive, according to investigators: Eder had developed a personal interest in a female APD officer the victim had previously dated — a pattern reminiscent of how tools for secretly tracking users get turned against private individuals. Around 1 a.m. one night, Eder’s marked patrol car rolled slowly through the victim’s apartment parking lot. Shortly after, Eder told the female officer he’d seen the man leave. He already knew the schedule. FLOCK had given it to him.
Here’s what the record shows:
- Eder was fired July 17 for “inappropriate use of department resources”
- August 31: Potter County accepted 78 counts of tampering with a government record — each a Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine per count
- He posted a single $4,500 bond covering all 78 charges combined
- Felony stalking charges were not pursued
When the victim texted Eder asking him to stop, Eder allegedly replied: “lol, tough guy. Whatever y’all got going on is between y’all. Keep it that way. Have fun, my dude” — winking emoji included. Under Texas law as charged, the legal victim is the City of Amarillo. Not the father. Not his kids. That classification blocked access to standard victim advocacy services. As the father put it to NewsChannel 10: “How, all of a sudden, am I not the victim?”
Policy Changes That Don’t Make One Family Feel Safer
APD is tightening FLOCK access — five months after the system failed to flag a single one of Eder’s searches on its own.
Chief Thomas Hover announced reforms to City Council:
- Retention cut from 30 days to seven
- Monthly supervisor audits
- Flagged searches reviewed within three days
- Live body-cam feeds restricted to supervisors and the regional crime center
Flock Safety is rolling out new safeguards requiring officers to tie each search to a specific criminal case. Amarillo City Council had already paused additional FLOCK purchases pending clearer use policies. Eder’s case, per regional reporting, is one of dozens of FLOCK misuse incidents across Texas.
None of it resolves what this family is living with right now. The father told reporters APD seemed more focused on protecting itself than protecting his children. APD refused to provide descriptions of Eder’s personal vehicles — the one piece of information that might let a targeted father recognize a threat near his kids’ school. As the father made clear, the department’s policy announcements do not make his family safer today. Every new safeguard protects the next person. This family, as the father described it to reporters, is navigating the aftermath with the same tools they had at the start: none.
