Florida Sheriff Praises Flock and LPRs, Credits Successful Criminal Apprehensions on Technology

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers is making no apologies for his agency's use of Flock cameras, license plate readers and the growing network of technology feeding information into the Sheriff's Office Real Time Crime Center.

His argument is straightforward: the technology is helping deputies catch criminals.

That argument gained new weight this week following the investigation into the killing of Dawn Kriskewic near Vero Beach and the subsequent apprehension of Matthew Waggle, the man accused of murdering her.

Investigators identified Waggle and began reconstructing his movements, an investigation that eventually stretched hundreds of miles from Indian River County to West Virginia. Waggle was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals just four days after the homicide.

Speaking Thursday following Waggle's apprehension, Flowers directly credited Flock technology with investigators' ability to track the suspect and bring the four-day manhunt to an end.

“Without Flock, I'm not standing here four days later telling you about this guy being in custody.”

It was more than a general endorsement of license plate readers. Flowers was pointing to a real homicide investigation and arguing that the technology dramatically shortened the amount of time an accused killer remained on the run.

For Flowers, the Waggle investigation represents one of the clearest examples yet of something Indian River County has been building for years: a technology-driven system designed to give deputies and investigators information faster, connect evidence across jurisdictional lines and help locate suspects who might otherwise disappear into traffic.

From 48 Cameras to a Countywide Network

Indian River County's license plate reader network did not appear overnight.

The Sheriff's Office began deploying the cameras in 2021, an initiative Flowers pushed after taking office.

By December 2022, 48 license plate reader cameras had been installed around Indian River County. Flowers said at the time that the system had already tracked approximately 400 stolen vehicles.

The technology quickly demonstrated that it could do more than identify stolen cars.

Early cases included stolen license plates, burglary suspects and even vehicles connected to kidnapping investigations originating outside Indian River County. Sheriff's Office officials have described cases involving stolen vehicles, stolen tags and wanted suspects entering or traveling through the county.

The network continued growing.

Indian River County now operates approximately 140 license plate readers, according to previously reported county figures. Those cameras can identify license plates associated with wanted vehicles while also giving investigators another way to reconstruct the movements of vehicles connected to crimes.

That represents nearly a threefold increase from the 48 cameras reported in 2022.

But focusing only on the cameras misses a significant part of what the Sheriff's Office has developed.

Inside the Real Time Crime Center

At the center of Flowers' strategy is the Indian River County Sheriff's Office Real Time Crime Center.

Rather than waiting for detectives to begin piecing together information hours or days after a crime, analysts can begin searching available information while an investigation is unfolding.

When a serious crime occurs, Flowers has described activating the center as one of the agency's early investigative moves.

During the investigation into Kriskewic's killing and the search for Waggle, analysts were able to examine available camera information and other data as investigators worked to determine where the suspect had gone.

The center's capabilities also extend beyond license plate readers.

Personnel inside the Real Time Crime Center can work alongside deputies and investigators in the field, analyze incoming information and use technology to help establish where suspects or vehicles have been and where they may be heading.

The center can also connect with deputies' body-worn cameras, providing personnel another set of eyes during active incidents. Flowers has previously said the center is used nearly every day.

A patrol deputy may see one vehicle.

An analyst can potentially determine where that vehicle came from, whether it has been associated with another investigation and where it may be headed next.

That ability becomes particularly valuable when a suspect is moving.

The Technology Has Produced Results

The strongest argument Flowers can make for the system isn't theoretical.

Indian River County has accumulated years of actual cases involving the technology.

In May 2024, license plate readers detected a vehicle authorities said was connected to an armed robbery and shooting in Broward County.

Law enforcement agencies coordinated as the vehicle traveled north. Florida Highway Patrol troopers and deputies from Indian River and St. Lucie counties eventually stopped it along Interstate 95 near Fort Pierce.

Four people inside were taken into custody.

Flowers has also pointed to the technology's role in fighting one of Indian River County's recurring problems: vehicle burglaries.

Auto burglaries had previously been among the county's most common crimes. Flowers said that by 2024 they had fallen completely out of Indian River County's top 10 crimes.

His explanation is that criminals now have a much harder time simply driving away unnoticed.

“When a crime occurs, immediately our team is looking into it,” Flowers previously said while demonstrating the Real Time Crime Center.

Investigators can begin determining where a vehicle went and provide deputies with information needed to intercept it.

Flowers has summed up the Sheriff's Office's position simply:

“We're using it for putting bad guys in jail, and our stats prove that.”

Flock Helps Solve Crimes Beyond Indian River County

The benefits are not limited to crimes originating here.

Indian River County sits along both Interstate 95 and Florida's Turnpike, placing the county along two major north-south transportation corridors.

Someone committing a crime in South Florida can be traveling through the Treasure Coast within hours.

License plate readers give law enforcement an opportunity to identify wanted vehicles as they move.

That was demonstrated in the 2024 Broward armed-robbery case, but Sheriff's Office officials have described similar uses involving stolen vehicles, stolen license plates and wanted suspects entering the county.

In other words, Indian River County's system isn't simply looking for criminals who live here.

It can alert deputies when criminals pass through here.

That capability also works in the opposite direction.

When a suspect leaves Indian River County, investigators can potentially use information collected locally and cooperation with other agencies to begin reconstructing that person's movements.

The Waggle investigation is now a powerful example.

A homicide investigation that began in Indian River County ended with the accused suspect being apprehended in West Virginia four days later.

Flowers' assessment of Flock's contribution was unequivocal:

“Without Flock, I'm not standing here four days later telling you about this guy being in custody.”

Even Flowers Was Once Flagged by the System

One of the more unusual demonstrations of the system came when Flowers himself ended up on the receiving end of an LPR alert.

In 2022, Flowers was driving a friend's vehicle when law enforcement pulled him over.

The license plate attached to the vehicle had been reported stolen.

Investigators determined someone had apparently swapped the legitimate plate with a stolen one. The camera system recognized the plate and generated the alert.

Instead of criticizing the inconvenience, Flowers used his own traffic stop as evidence that the system was doing exactly what it was designed to do.

The Cameras Can Also Help Clear Someone

There is another side of the technology that receives considerably less attention.

Flock data doesn't necessarily have to implicate someone.

It can potentially exclude them.

During discussion surrounding the Waggle investigation, Flowers explained that investigators can use vehicle-location information to determine whether someone's vehicle was even near a crime scene.

That distinction matters.

The technology itself does not determine guilt. It provides investigators with information — where a vehicle was observed, when it was there and potentially which direction it traveled.

Deputies and detectives still have to investigate the crime, corroborate evidence and build a case.

The Privacy Debate Isn't Going Away

There are legitimate questions surrounding any government-operated surveillance technology.

License plate readers photograph vehicles traveling on public roadways and can store information including license plates, locations and timestamps. Critics have questioned how that information is retained, who can access it and whether widespread deployment creates the potential for government abuse.

Flowers himself has acknowledged that potential.

“Could somebody use it in a bad way? No doubt. There is absolutely potential for abuse,” Flowers previously said while discussing the system.

His position is that the Indian River County Sheriff's Office is using the technology for its stated law-enforcement purposes.

Accountability remains important. Residents should expect safeguards governing who can access information, why it is accessed and how long it is retained.

But the privacy debate also shouldn't erase the documented results.

Five Years of Results

When Flowers pushed for the expansion of license plate readers in Indian River County, residents did not yet have years of local results available to judge the program.

They do now.

The network grew from 48 reported cameras in 2022 to approximately 140.

The system has tracked stolen vehicles, identified stolen license plates, helped locate burglary suspects and alerted deputies to vehicles wanted by agencies outside Indian River County.

It contributed to the apprehension of four people traveling through the Treasure Coast following an armed robbery and shooting in Broward County.

It has become integrated into a Real Time Crime Center that the Sheriff's Office says it uses nearly every day.

And now Flowers is pointing to that same technological infrastructure following the apprehension of an accused homicide suspect hundreds of miles away in West Virginia.

That doesn't mean every question surrounding Flock or license plate readers should disappear.

It does mean the discussion in Indian River County can no longer be based entirely on hypotheticals.

There is now a local record to examine.

For Flowers, that record provides the justification for continuing to use the technology.

The cameras don't make arrests. They don't conduct interviews, collect physical evidence or put handcuffs on suspects.

Deputies still do that.

But when seconds matter and a suspect is moving, technology can give those deputies something law enforcement has always wanted:

a head start.

And in the investigation into Dawn Kriskewic's killing, Flowers says that technology made a difference measured not in weeks or months, but in days.

Four days.

IRC Media uses aggregated public data and verified sources; articles reviewed by editorial team to the best of our ability.