On August 31, 2026, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office announced that Investigator Sean Morrow and Deputy Jose Ferrer had been arrested and terminated after a criminal investigation into unauthorized use of the agency’s Flock license plate reader system, WFXG reported. Sheriff Eugene Brantley’s statement said both knowingly searched license plates for personal reasons unrelated to any official law enforcement purpose — not tied to a criminal investigation, call for service, intelligence gathering, or other legitimate activity — and that the conduct violated agency policies and the oath of office.
Both were booked into the Webster Detention Center and fired. USA TODAY’s September 11, 2026 investigation reported that Ferrer used Flock to search a single tag at least 1,146 times from January 2023 to May 2025, entering reasons such as “SUSPICIOUS” and “BOB,” and that the sheriff’s office said it was not aware of those frequent searches until a reporter contacted the agency in August.
Charges are allegations; Morrow and Ferrer are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. This Richmond County, Georgia case is separate from other Flock cases involving different agencies and states.
Officer/Official: Sean Morrow, Jose Ferrer
Date of incident: August 31, 2026
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