BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Brevard County sheriff’s deputy celebrated just months ago as the agency’s 2025 Deputy of the Year resigned after an internal investigation uncovered a series of misconduct allegations — including an improper search of his former girlfriend’s license plate using the agency’s Flock camera system.

Michael Fultz, 24, resigned from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office on May 27 as Sheriff Wayne Ivey was preparing to terminate him following the administrative investigation.

The case includes allegations involving racial slurs, inappropriate conduct while in uniform, a photograph appearing to depict a Nazi salute and disturbing photographs involving a firearm during consensual sexual activity.

But one finding in particular raises a broader question for Florida residents: Who is watching the people with access to Flock?

Flock System Used to Search Ex-Girlfriend

According to records obtained and reviewed by WKMG News 6, Fultz’s former girlfriend told investigators that he had previously discussed “watching her” through the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Flock license plate reader system.

Investigators subsequently audited the system.

That audit reportedly showed that Fultz had searched his former girlfriend’s license plate on one occasion before the beginning of his shift. The search was entered into the system as being for an “investigation.”

Investigators wrote that Fultz denied using the search to spy on his former girlfriend or for revenge but could not explain why he queried her vehicle registration while off duty.

The administrative investigation did not indicate that Fultz was criminally investigated over the Flock search.

That distinction matters.

Flock Safety's automated license plate reader technology can provide law enforcement with a powerful investigative tool, allowing agencies to search vehicle information captured across networks of cameras.

But that capability also means officers with authorized access potentially have an extraordinary amount of information at their fingertips.

The Fultz investigation provides a real-world example of the concern privacy advocates and residents have raised as Flock cameras have expanded across Florida: What happens when someone with legitimate access uses that access for an illegitimate purpose?

From Deputy of the Year to Internal Investigation

Fultz joined the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office as a probationary deputy in September 2024.

In April 2025, Fultz fatally shot a man who authorities said charged toward him with a knife while the deputy was responding to a disturbance.

BCSO subsequently recognized Fultz for his actions.

At the agency's annual awards ceremony on March 13, 2026, Fultz received the Medal of Valor and was named Brevard County's 2025 Deputy of the Year.

In its official announcement, the Sheriff's Office praised Fultz's actions during the shooting, saying his “decisive actions and extraordinary restraint under extreme pressure” protected both a woman at the scene and himself.

But according to the subsequent investigation, Fultz's former girlfriend contacted BCSO on the same day as the awards ceremony.

Her allegations triggered an administrative investigation.

Investigators were unable to substantiate every allegation she made, but records indicate Fultz acknowledged his involvement in several of the incidents examined by the agency.

Other Misconduct Uncovered

Investigators reviewed a photograph reportedly taken in 2023, before Fultz became a deputy, showing him with a mustache styled to resemble Adolf Hitler while appearing to perform a Nazi salute.

Fultz acknowledged posing for the photograph but denied being racist and characterized the picture as a joke.

Investigators also reviewed text messages in which Fultz acknowledged repeatedly using a racial slur.

Other evidence included screenshots from a FaceTime conversation showing Fultz in uniform inside his patrol vehicle engaging in what investigators considered inappropriate conduct.

The investigation also examined photographs depicting Fultz and his former girlfriend during consensual sexual activity involving a handgun.

Fultz maintained that the firearm shown in the photographs was his personally owned weapon.

111 MPH Traffic Stop Raises More Questions

The investigation also uncovered a series of off-duty traffic encounters involving Fultz.

According to the records, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper stopped Fultz in February after allegedly clocking his motorcycle traveling 111 mph on U.S. 192 near Melbourne.

Fultz received a civil citation rather than being arrested under Florida's excessive-speed law.

Investigators also determined that Fultz had been stopped by law enforcement on multiple occasions while riding his motorcycle and failed to report those encounters to supervisors as required by BCSO policy.

After the Sheriff's Office instructed him to keep his motorcycle license plate visible, records reportedly showed Fultz leaving a Sheriff's Office parking lot without a license plate attached.

Sheriff: Trust Was Irreparably Damaged

Following the internal investigation, Sheriff Wayne Ivey determined that Fultz should be terminated.

Ivey wrote that the nature and severity of the misconduct had “irreparably damaged the trust” necessary for Fultz to continue serving as a deputy.

Fultz resigned May 27 before the termination could take place.

In a statement subsequently provided to News 6, Fultz apologized to BCSO, fellow deputies, his family and Brevard County residents for the embarrassment caused by his actions.

He said the experience had humbled him and that he intended to take responsibility for his mistakes, learn from them and move forward.

The Bigger Flock Question

The conduct documented in this investigation belongs to one former deputy.

The questions raised by the Flock search extend much further.

Automated license plate readers are increasingly becoming part of everyday law enforcement across Florida. Supporters point to their usefulness in locating stolen vehicles, identifying suspects and solving serious crimes.

Those benefits don't eliminate the need for oversight.

If an authorized user can search the movements or vehicle information of an ex-girlfriend without a legitimate investigation, residents have every reason to ask what safeguards exist to detect and prevent similar searches involving a spouse, neighbor, business owner, journalist, political opponent or any other citizen.

In this case, the improper search was discovered because BCSO investigators audited Fultz's Flock activity after receiving allegations against him.

That raises another question:

Would anyone have discovered the search if the complaint had never been made?

As Florida communities continue debating the expansion of automated license plate readers, the Brevard County investigation provides something more significant than a hypothetical argument over privacy.

It provides an example of what can happen when access to a powerful surveillance system is allegedly used for something other than legitimate police work.

Technology may help law enforcement find people.

Accountability determines who is allowed to look — and who is watching them when they do.

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