What I've been working on lately: Pasco County, FL, used a crude computer algorithm to "predict" who would commit future crimes--and then subjected their families to relentless harassment. They called it "Intelligence Led Policing." This is Robert Jones, one of our clients. His son landed on Pasco's list when... he was just sixteen years old. Soon, the Pasco sheriff's office was visiting the family's home multiple times a week and at odd hours of the day, knocking on the doors, and peering into the windows. Deputies found excuses to issue fines for things like tall grass, and they found excuses to arrest Robert--arresting him three times in three months. Robert had never been arrested before. But he was arrested the day after Christmas because officers claimed to see a minor smoking a cigarette through the windows of his home; was arrested a week later for failure to appear for a code citation hearing (even though he did not receive notice of the hearing); and was arrested several months later for alleged possession of marijuana.show more

When Robert was arrested the third time, a deputy was captured on body-camera telling him, "We'll just continue on this shit, because you're messing around with an aggressive sheriff. Sheriff Nocco is not playing games, that's the bottom line." Not long after, Robert moved his family out of the county.

Robert wasn't the only one to be arrested because his kid was targeted by Pasco County. Tammy Heilman's son was placed on Pasco's list when he was sixteen years old, and before long Tammy (who had never been arrested before) was arrested twice--once when deputies forcibly removed her from her car after she was pulled over by deputies who came to her house to investigate her son; and a second time because she opened a screen door into a deputy's toe.

Internal documents uncovered during discovery show all this was by design. In an email, a sheriff's office official told deputies they should focus on people who were "identified as proooooolific offenders," to "target them" and "send a message." "The goal is to get them to move away or go to prison on new charges we discover, that's what we are looking for!" Another internal policy describes the theory behind prolific offender checks, stating that listed individuals must know they will face "relentless pursuit, arrest, and prosecution." The sheriff's office was successful in accomplishing its goals. Robert moved away. And Tammy ultimately pled guilty to resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer, spending two years on probation as a result; pleading guilty was the only way to get home to her families for the holidays.

I hope the lawsuit payout is tremendous for these families. That is not the way for policing to be helpful to the community.

Thanks for the support -- Tammy and Robert aren't looking for a big pay day, just to hold Pasco accountable and to secure a decision that will make sure this doesn't happen to other parents.

If Florida counties were ranked on a list of the state's worst law enforcement leadership, Pasco County has got to be at the top.

This is disgusting. Thank you for uncovering the rot.

These cops need to be in fucking jail. This isn't Minority Report, you can't harras people because an AI says "maybe idk lol."

That's a wild (and awful) interpretation of deterrence theory. Ffs. I'm glad you're sharing this. What an awful abuse of power by the Pasco County, Florida police force.

Good for you. Unfortunately, judges will probably approve qualified immunity. "How could a cop know that harassing a citizen until he moves away violates his constitutional rights?"