The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday the firing and arrest of a second deputy following an ongoing internal audit of access to license plate data (LPD).
“An internal audit revealed that former Deputy Jonathan Thomas accessed the Flock camera system and utilized retained license plate data for personal, non-law enforcement purposes,” spokesman Rob Moore said. “The investigation revealed that this was an incident involving an individual with whom he had a personal relationship with at the time. Following the discovery of the violation, his employment with the agency was terminated.”
Thomas was arrested and charged with violation of oath of office and misuse of license plate data. He began his employment with the Sheriff’s Office on December 2, 2024.
Sheriff Robert Krockum said steps are already being taken to prevent such incidents in the future.
“We will continue to audit our system and hold those accountable who have abused this system. Our
current policy has been strengthened to include a two-person approval process before any license
plate data can be entered into the system. If a deputy wants to search for a specific license plate,
they must first have supervisor approval, who will document and approve the reason and enter in
the search,”Krockum said. “They must have a documented case number, as well as contacting our dispatch center via radio to log the search. This will lower the number of approved users from 39 to only 23 supervisors who have access to enter and search for a specific license plate.”