FORT PIERCE — A former Fort Pierce police officer was arrested Tuesday after an investigation found he repeatedly accessed an automated license plate reader database to search the same vehicle without a legitimate law enforcement purpose, according to Police Chief David M. Smith.
Joseph Crutchfield was arrested Sept. 8 on four felony counts related to unauthorized computer access and was being held at the St. Lucie County Jail on an $80,000 secured bond, Smith said.
The Fort Pierce Police Department began looking into Crutchfield's use of its Flock automated license plate reader system after members of the media contacted the agency Aug. 7 with information raising concerns about possible misuse of the technology. Crutchfield was placed on administrative leave that day, and his access to law enforcement systems was revoked.
The department began a criminal investigation Aug. 10 as additional information was developed. Detectives with the Criminal Investigations Division conducted the investigation in consultation with the State Attorney's Office.
Crutchfield resigned Aug. 18 before the investigation was completed.
According to Smith, investigators determined that Crutchfield accessed the Flock database 382 times between October 2025 and July 2026 to search the same license plate. The searches were conducted under multiple reason categories, but investigators found no legitimate law enforcement purpose for the queries.
Most of the searches occurred while Crutchfield was off duty. Investigators also determined that the vehicle's registered owner was an ex-girlfriend of Crutchfield.
After identifying the potential misuse of the Flock system, investigators broadened their review to other law enforcement databases, including FCIC, NCIC, DAVID and TLO. That examination found additional searches involving the same license plate for which investigators determined there was no legitimate law enforcement purpose.
“The authority entrusted to police officers comes with an extraordinary responsibility. When there is credible evidence that an officer may have violated the law, we have an obligation to act. The badge does not provide immunity from accountability,” Smith said.
The case comes amid ongoing public debate over the use of automated license plate readers by law enforcement.
“This technology can be an effective public safety tool, particularly in serious criminal investigations and cases involving missing and endangered persons,” he said. “But when incidents like this occur, they highlight the need for accountability and transparency, and they add to that ongoing debate about their use. The cameras are here for our community's safety, not to be abused by those who are entrusted to safeguard them.”
Smith said the department launched a comprehensive audit of its use of law enforcement databases following the discovery involving Crutchfield. The audit remains underway.
“Immediately after the discovery of this incident, we also initiated a comprehensive audit of the entire department's use of these databases to determine whether there were any additional instances of potential misuse, and that audit remains ongoing,” he said. “I want to be careful not to get ahead of the audit process, but what I can tell you is that to date, no additional violations have been identified. If that audit identifies any additional concerns that need to be investigated, just as we did in this case, we will follow that evidence wherever it leads. We'll also use this incident as an opportunity to examine our own policies and practices surrounding access to these systems.”
The department will comply with recent Florida Department of Transportation directives and a St. Lucie County Commission directive governing license plate readers on state and county rights-of-way.
Smith has also imposed additional restrictions on the department's use of the technology.
“The use of the LPR system now requires the prior approval from one of our two deputy chiefs, and access will be restricted to personnel at the rank of lieutenant and above," he said. "Use will be limited to investigations of forcible felonies, as defined in Florida Statute 776.08, and missing or endangered person investigations. All the uses of this system require a case number tied to the investigation, and we've also changed our data retention period from 30 days to seven days. The system will not be used for general investigative surveillance, intelligence gathering unrelated to an authorized investigation, or routine investigative inquiries."
The department also added a position in its Office of Professional Standards to conduct monthly quality assurance audits of law enforcement databases.
“This case demonstrates that the safeguards that were in place were not sufficient. We learned through this investigation, reinforced the need for the changes that were already underway, and it made clear that we needed to go significantly further, and we have,” Smith said.
The city is beginning the process of removing license plate reader cameras affected by the state and county directives.
“We are coming up with a plan on removing the ones from the right-of-way that fall under those directives, but it's gonna take a little bit of time,” Smith said.
Once those cameras are removed, the Fort Pierce Police Department will have about 20 cameras remaining in use.
Crutchfield was previously suspended in 2022 for harassment.
“Those were investigated at the time,” Smith said. “That was the discipline that was deemed appropriate. What I can speak to is what occurred in this instance.