Richmond County, Ga. sheriff's deputy misused Flock database for personal reasons, fired, charged

On August 31, 2026, the Richmond County (Augusta, Georgia) Sheriff's Office announced it had concluded a criminal investigation and arrested Deputy Jose Ferrer for unauthorized personal use of the agency's Flock license-plate-reader system. Investigators determined that Ferrer knowingly accessed the Flock Camera System to search license plate numbers for reasons unrelated to any official law-enforcement purpose. He was charged with misuse of license plate readers and violation of oath of office, booked into the Charles B. Webster Detention Center, and fired.

Investigator Sean Morrow was arrested and charged the same day for separately misusing the same system; investigators did not describe the two officers' searches as a joint or coordinated act, so Morrow's case is recorded as its own entry in this archive. The arrests bring the number of Richmond County Sheriff's Office employees caught in the expanding Flock investigation to six since June 2026, following the June 25 firing and arrest of former Deputy Jaquarius Yarbrough and the July 20 firing and arrest of Lt. John McKenzie, Investigator Curtis Hoskins, and Deputy Joshua Johnson.

In a statement, the Sheriff's Office said the investigation determined both deputies' actions violated multiple agency policies, including unauthorized access and misuse of law-enforcement databases and information systems, conduct unbecoming a member of the Sheriff's Office, and the ethical obligations of the Oath of Office. Sheriff Eugene Brantley said the office "remains committed to ensuring the integrity and accountability of every member of the Richmond County Sheriff's Office," and that employees found to have violated the law or agency policy would be held accountable. The investigation remains open.