Two Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies have resigned and face criminal charges after allegedly misusing law enforcement databases, including Flock Safety camera data.
According to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, one case involved a former deputy’s interest in a 17-year-old girl, and another involved a former deputy using law enforcement tools to search for a woman’s information hundreds of times.
“It’s really not an issue with the product,” Gualtieri said, according to Bay News 9.
“This is a people problem in that regard,” he added.
Two Pinellas County Sheriff's Office deputies were accused of misusing data available to them through their job to track people, with one victim identified as a 17-year-old girl. https://t.co/GwRsRbTp9O pic.twitter.com/9VTrcKCMgz
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) September 30, 2026
WTSP explained further:
The cases also raised questions about the agency’s safeguards for detecting improper searches. Gualtieri acknowledged that an audit prompted by a media inquiry uncovered weaknesses in the system used to flag unusual activity.
ADVERTISEMENTThe first case involves former Deputy Travis Stanton, 33, who resigned on Sept. 25 after the sheriff’s office began investigating his conduct involving a 17-year-old girl who had filed a complaint with the agency.
Deputy Stanton had allegedly been visiting the teen at the fast-food restaurant where she works.
Gualtieri said Stanton used several databases to gather information about the girl and her vehicle, including running her license plate through Florida’s vehicle registration system using a computer in his patrol car.
“Running the plate of a 17-year-old girl with whom you are interested in is clearly inappropriate and clearly unlawful,” the sheriff said.
According to the sheriff, Stanton stopped by Seminole High School, where the girl attended classes, to locate her vehicle. He allegedly ran the license plate again there.
The sheriff described another encounter at the fast-food restaurant, where Stanton reportedly asked the girl if she wanted to see a photograph of a dead body from an unrelated call he was on. She declined.
Meanwhile, former Deputy Carl Gwynn is charged with four counts of unlawfully accessing a computer system and one count of official misconduct.
“We need to do random checks,” Gualtieri said, according to Bay News 9.
“We need to verify, we need to cross reference, we need to look at some of the indicators we’ve seen in the past, such as a single tag being queried a high number of times,” he added.
Watch more below:
A Pinellas County deputy was arrested after he allegedly misused state data and law enforcement systems to pursue a minor he was infatuated with, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said. The deputy was said to be recently married as well. https://t.co/GwRsRbSRkg pic.twitter.com/NQt8jXl1ou
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) September 30, 2026
“There is no telling how this data is being used, especially by the corporations,” Gov. Ron DeSantis commented.
There is no telling how this data is being used, especially by the corporations. pic.twitter.com/nNODjjkRD9
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) October 1, 2026
Bay News 9 noted:
The sheriff said both former deputies are no longer on the force and could face jail time. He also said the cases could have ripple effects on the credibility of cases the former deputies were involved in.
Gualtieri defended the use of Flock cameras, saying these cases involved individual misuse of a system that helps solve dangerous crimes.
The Florida Department of Transportation has issued an order to remove Flock cameras from state roads. Gualtieri said that as of Tuesday night, about 11 cameras still had to be removed by the state, not his agency.
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