Sgt. John Finnegan Searched Two Plates 574 Times — The Reason Field Says It All
Watch the video:
Indian River County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Finnegan is on paid administrative leave — after a TCPalm-USA TODAY data investigation found he searched the same two license plates 574 times in the Flock Safety camera system between March and October 2025.
The reason field on those searches says everything the data doesn’t: “SUS.” And, on multiple entries, “DAYTIME SEARCH FOR BEST RESULT.”
He is the third Treasure Coast officer caught in this scandal in under three weeks. Fort Pierce Officer Josepher Crutchfield was arrested for running his ex-girlfriend’s plate 382 times. Vero Beach Officer Chayse Hatfield was placed on leave after searching a plate connected to his own name 107 times — with “TEST” logged as the reason on every single query, 18 of them in an 80-minute stretch that started at 1:47 in the morning.
And here’s the pattern that ties all three together: every agency launched its investigation only after TCPalm reporters called and asked questions. Not after audits flagged it. Not after internal oversight caught it. After a reporter dialed the phone.
Finnegan and Hatfield have not been charged with any crime. Crutchfield has.
The question the data raises is bigger than one sergeant: Flock searches only require a reason field after the query happens. There is no case number required before the search, no supervisor sign-off, no real-time guardrail — just a box an officer fills in afterward, where “SUS” and “LMAO” and “ASDFG” and “TEST” turn out to be acceptable answers.
Should a plate-reader search require a case number before the query, not after? That’s the question this whole series keeps landing on.
Sources:
- TCPalm / USA TODAY: Florida cop on leave amid Flock probe
- Vero News (Sept 14): Sheriff’s sergeant on paid leave amid investigation into misuse of Flock system
- Vero News (Sept 18): Vero Beach officer being investigated for misuse of Flock
- CBS12 News I-Team: Indian River Sheriff’s sergeant on leave amid Flock camera investigation
Related in our Flock series: Fort Pierce officer Josepher Crutchfield, arrested after 382 searches on his ex-girlfriend’s plate — and the hackers who tore a Flock camera down and found 1.6 million images inside.
#OhDangReally #FlockCameras #LicensePlateReader #Surveillance #FloridaPolice
Every story like this starts the same way: someone typed a name, a plate, an address — and the databases already had it. Yours does too. Optery shows you exactly which sites are selling your personal info and scrubs you off them automatically. Free scan, paid plans do the removal. We earn a commission if you sign up — it costs you nothing extra.
