FORT PIERCE, FL — A Fort Pierce police officer was arrested Sept. 8 after officials said he used automated license plate reader technology to track his former girlfriend for about 18 months. Josepher Crutchfield was charged with four felony counts of fraud and abuse of computer access.
The case escalated quickly after TCPalm reporter Jack Lemnus asked about his searches on Aug. 7. The police department revoked his access that day, opened a criminal investigation three days later, and Crutchfield resigned on Aug. 18 before the arrest.
Police said Crutchfield searched the woman’s plate 382 times between February 2025 and June 2026. He gave a range of explanations for the searches, including “suspect,” “stolen,” and in some cases “none.”
How the Fort Pierce investigation moved from inquiry to arrest
Chief David Smith said the department acted after the media inquiry brought the pattern to light. At a Sept. 8 news conference, he said the small size of the agency made it impossible to review every search officers made each month without new safeguards.
Smith said most of Crutchfield’s searches happened while he was off duty and had no legitimate law enforcement purpose. He called the conduct unacceptable and said it represented a serious breach of the trust officers are expected to uphold.
The criminal case followed a chain of internal steps that began almost immediately after the questions were raised. Officials said they treated the issue as both a policy problem and a potential crime, rather than just a personnel matter.
Restraining order filing added another layer to the allegations
The woman at the center of the searches was not named in order to protect her privacy. TCPalm asked her about the searches on Aug. 3, and she later filed for a restraining order on Aug. 14.
In that filing, she accused Crutchfield of stalking and cyberstalking. The timeline suggests the complaint came after she learned more about the repeated lookups and before the officer resigned or was charged.
Officials did not publicly describe every detail of the relationship or the searches, but the repeated use of the system over such a long stretch became the focus of the criminal investigation. The case has since drawn attention far beyond Fort Pierce because it fits a broader pattern seen in other agencies.
A broader Flock misuse inquiry has already led to arrests nationwide
The Fort Pierce case is part of a much larger TCPalm-USA TODAY investigation into misuse of Flock Safety cameras. The project examined more than 75 million searches of license plate reader data over 3½ years across more than 6,300 agencies.
That work has already led to at least 21 law enforcement officials nationwide being arrested, fired, or investigated, according to the reporting. In another example cited in the investigation, a 911 call operator in Dallas, Georgia, was arrested after searching more than 2,500 times for vehicles linked to her estranged husband and his new girlfriend.
Investigators said the Fort Pierce arrest shows how personal use of surveillance tools can be uncovered when search records remain transparent enough for outside review.
Flock auditing changes made public oversight harder
The investigation also found that public oversight is now far more difficult than it once was. Flock’s network audits used to show details such as officer initials, case numbers, and license plates, which helped reporters spot suspicious patterns.
In December 2025, the company began redacting those fields and replacing them with “***.” The public can still seek an agency’s internal searches, known as an organizational audit, but many agencies decline those requests because they say disclosure could interfere with investigations.
Vero Beach police said the network audit is controlled by Flock, not the agency. Jennifer Kelley-De La Rosa, an administrative assistant there, said the information provided is the same as what local users can see.
Fort Pierce tightens rules on searches and record retention
Smith said the department will tighten oversight to keep officers from misusing the system again. Under the new rules, Flock searches must be approved in advance by deputy chiefs, tied to forcible felonies or missing and endangered people, and supported by a case number.
The department also reduced its retention period from 30 days to seven days. Vehicle images and geolocation data will now be automatically deleted after that point unless investigators extend the hold.
In addition, the Police Department added an employee to its Office of Professional Standards to review Flock use each month. Smith said the technology can still help solve serious crimes, including a hit-and-run case in August that left a 7-year-old girl seriously injured, but he said the episode showed why accountability matters.
Florida moves to remove license plate readers from state rights of way
The Fort Pierce changes came as broader scrutiny over license plate readers intensified across Florida and beyond. Three days after TCPalm-USA TODAY published its investigation on Aug. 28, the state announced it would remove Flock and other brands of license plate readers from state rights of way.
Fort Pierce Maj. Michael Santiago said the pace of the technology has outstripped the pace of legislation. He said lawmakers are still trying to catch up as police departments and the public debate how these tools should be used.
Smith said the department’s updated policy is meant to reflect that reality while preserving access for serious public safety work. Officials said the goal is to keep the technology available for major investigations while making abuse easier to catch and harder to repeat.
A Fort Pierce police officer was arrested Sept. 8 after officials said he used automated license plate reader technology to track his former girlfriend for about 18 months. Josepher Crutchfield was charged with four felony counts of fraud and abuse of computer access.
The case escalated quickly after TCPalm reporter Jack Lemnus asked about his searches on Aug. 7. The police department revoked his access that day, opened a criminal investigation three days later, and Crutchfield resigned on Aug. 18 before the arrest.
Police said Crutchfield searched the woman’s plate 382 times between February 2025 and June 2026. He gave a range of explanations for the searches, including “suspect,” “stolen,” and in some cases “none.”
