Police said the review found that overall staff were using the software as intended. Photo: Richard Tindiller
Five police staff are being investigated by an internal integrity group for misusing software that recognises vehicle number plates.
An audit found two staff used an automatic alert system which allows them to track their own vehicles in real time.
About 6000 staff can search third-party CCTV for previously captured footage of vehicles, while about 1000 can also track them in real time.
Police said the review of 350,000 searches from 2018 to 2022 showed overall staff are using the systems as intended.
It found 120 people were found to have looked their own vehicles, but the police had not investigated if they broke the rules.
Police said they were tightening up controls to better prevent misuse and errors.
Police assistant commissioner Mike Johnson told Morning Report the software had been used since 2006 in "a range of ways", including tackling crime, and had grown in usage since then.
"What we've actually done here is a risk and assurance process across the top of it, we've done an audit, which has been published and is on our website, and really we've tightened up the controls and checks as the use of this technology by police has grown."
Asked why police staff would have misused the software, Johnson said there could be a range of reasons.
"Some of our staff make mistakes, firstly, or personal use or something of personal interest relating to family or other thing."
In the cases where staff were found to have searched their own vehicles, they had been talked to, he said.
"A lot of that is training ... to get used to using the system when you first use it and you want to put something in to see how that looks, often you're going to have to put in a number plate to get something back out of it."
