Man says he had to change where kids slept after officer tracked him for months on Flock cameras

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA/Gray News) — A Texas father says he was being tracked for months by an officer who was using city databases and Flock cameras to follow him.

Speaking anonymously, the targeted father explained the impact of knowing his daily routines were monitored by a now-former officer who has since been charged.

“In that period of time in Amarillo ... you’re going to know every single thing that I do,” the man said. “I’m a creature of habit. I pick my kids up from the same school, the same daycare. It hit me: this guy knows exactly which way I go.”

The man says the tracking began after an Amarillo Police Department officer, Christian Eder, developed a personal interest in a female officer whom he had previously dated.

According to the father, he was completely unaware of Eder’s existence until the female officer told him that Eder had been showing up off-duty at locations where she was working.

The Amarillo man shared that he learned Eder was utilizing his department-issued work phone to remotely access the female officer’s active in-car and body cameras to track her location.

“I don’t want to release much information regarding the female officer as I feel that putting someone else through this ordeal would be inherently cruel and evil,” the man said.

The victim noted that he first realized his own safety was compromised when he walked out of his apartment to go to the gym overnight and saw Eder’s marked patrol unit driving slowly through the parking lot behind his car.

Shortly after, the female officer informed the man that Eder had approached her at work, stating he had seen him leaving his apartment at that exact hour.

Hoping to stop the behavior and completely unaware that he was already being systematically tracked through city databases, the victim said he had sent Eder a text message asking him to stop.

“But at that point, he doubled down,” the man said. Eder replied to the message with “lol, tough guy. Whatever y’all got going on is between y’all. Keep it that way. Have fun, my dude,” accompanied by a winky face.

The victim added that if he had known of Eder’s Flock and TLOxp searches, he never would have texted Eder directly due to the severe safety risk.

Fearing for his family’s safety, the man filed a complaint with the police department’s internal affairs department.

An investigation revealed Eder had used the city’s Flock system to track the man’s vehicle 76 times and had run his name twice in the TLOxp database, typing in false law enforcement reasons like “city planning” to justify the searches.

Because Eder was a SWAT alternate with tactical training, the victim said the situation felt dangerous to his family.

But to make matters worse, the father said APD detectives denied his requests for a description of Eder’s personal vehicles so he could keep an eye out for his family’s safety.

“I’ve had to change where my kids sleep in my house. I’ve had to change everything,” the victim said. “It is emotionally taxing. And it has dipped into every facet of my life.”

Amarillo police fired Eder on July 17, citing that the officer was terminated for policy violation.

On Aug. 31, the Potter County Attorney’s Office accepted a criminal complaint against Eder for tampering with a government record. He is currently facing 78 criminal charges.

Police say that, according to the criminal complaint, Eder used the Flock camera system to track the victim’s license plate number 76 times between February 2026 and June 2026.

An internal audit revealed that Eder used police databases to monitor the victim over a five-month span.

Eder turned himself in at the Potter County Jail and was released on a $4,500 bond.

Amarillo Police Chief Thomas Hover presented new safeguards, including tighter software access and shorter data-retention periods, at a city council meeting this week.

However, the father said the proposed policy changes do not solve the immediate threat.

“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.”