Baytown Police Refer Ex-Detective Case to DA

Former Detective Ken Pascual resigned while under investigation over alleged misuse of a Flock License Plate Reader system.

Updated on Nov. 13, 2026 in Law Enforcement

Baytown Police Refer Ex-Detective Case to DA

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The Baytown Police Department has referred its investigation into alleged misuse of the Flock License Plate Reader system to the Harris County District Attorney's Public Integrity Division. Former Detective Ken Pascual resigned from the department while under investigation, and the department has not released the specific allegations against him.

Why it matters

The referral puts the question of possible criminal charges for a local officer in the hands of prosecutors, not the department. Because the allegations have not been publicly detailed, residents of Baytown and Harris County currently have limited information about the alleged misuse.

The case was turned over to the Harris County District Attorney's Office on August 31 and remains under prosecutorial review, with no charges announced. A pending Attorney General Ruling on a Baytown Sun public information request for the officer's name and complaints is expected to take 45 business days, and the underlying allegations remain unpublished.

The players

Baytown Police Department

The Baytown Police Department is the municipal law enforcement agency serving the city of Baytown, Texas, on the eastern edge of the Houston metropolitan area.

Harris County District Attorney's Office

The Harris County District Attorney's Office is the prosecutorial agency responsible for criminal cases in Texas's most populous county, which includes Houston.

Ken Pascual

Ken Pascual is a former Baytown police detective who resigned from the department while under investigation over alleged misuse of the Flock License Plate Reader system.

The details

In July, the Baytown Police Department launched an internal affairs investigation and a criminal investigation after receiving allegations of misuse of the Flock License Plate Reader system. The department later identified former Detective Ken Pascual as the officer involved, and the Baytown Sun filed a Public Information Act request on August 27 seeking his name and the complaints against him.

July: Baytown Police Department opens internal affairs and criminal investigations.
August 27: The Baytown Sun files a Public Information Act request.
August 31: The case is turned over to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
Thursday: The department releases a statement identifying Pascual and requests an Attorney General Ruling on the records request.

Legal Context

Alleged misuse of the Flock License Plate Reader system places this Baytown inquiry alongside a growing number of cases examining how police departments access and audit automated plate-reading data. The outcome of the District Attorney's review will show whether such misuse is pursued as a criminal matter or handled only through internal discipline.

Residents of Baytown whose vehicles were captured by the Flock License Plate Reader system may wish to know whether their plate data was accessed improperly. The public has limited information on the specific allegations, so the eventual release of records or charging decisions will determine how much residents can learn about how their data was used.

The takeaway

Oversight of police access to surveillance data depends heavily on public records requests and prosecutorial review, both of which can take months to resolve. Residents who want to track the outcome should follow the Harris County District Attorney's charging decisions and any Attorney General Ruling on the pending records request.

What happens next

The Attorney General Ruling on the Baytown Sun's public information request is expected to take 45 business days from the date it was requested, and the Harris County District Attorney's review of possible criminal charges is ongoing.