Flock Abuse in Pinellas

Pinellas Sheriff’s Deputy Arrested for Flock Abuse

Just yesterday, two Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputies were arrested for abuse of sensitive databases, one involving Flock. Unfortunately, similar cases of abuse have become all too common, and it felt like only a matter of time before we would see one in our community. To supporters of surveillance technologies like Flock, these cases may look like the system working as intended – the perpetrators were caught and will face consequences – but the way in which these cases came to light only raises questions about the abuses that have gone unnoticed.

In the case involving Flock, Deputy Karl Gwynne searched the Flock database over 300 times for the license plate of a woman he was “romantically interested in” (stalking). The Sheriff’s department only questioned Gwynne about this usage after they were contacted by journalists from TCPalm. This is despite Sheriff Bob Gualtieri’s assurances earlier this month that the department is prioritizing safeguards and accountability.

In the second case, Deputy Travis Stanton used the Florida Crime Information Center’s license plate database to stalk a 17-year-old girl. This time, the officer was only exposed after the victim came forward. While this case did not involve Flock, it demonstrates the same concerning lack of oversight, and shows that the problem is so much bigger than just Flock and ALPRs. Law enforcement has a rapidly growing set of tools that they can use for surveillance and access to sensitive information, and the oversight is haphazard at best.

Ultimately, when police and private companies are asked to police themselves, they don’t. This is why it is vital to, at the very least, provide full transparency into the tools available, and how they are being used. For example, the kind of logs that were used by journalists to identify Deputy Gwynne’s improper Flock usage have been ruled exempt from public records requests. As long as that is the case, the public has no way to monitor for further abuses.

In our rapidly changing world, the public deserves a seat at the table to decide the role that new technologies will play in our lives. This is the only way to guarantee that we can enjoy the benefits of these advancements, while being protected from the harms. To make this a reality, we need our local government to take a proactive role in navigating these changes. Simply accepting that the technology changes faster than public policy can keep up with is not good enough.