SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. — A Sumter County detective has been fired and arrested after investigators say she used law enforcement surveillance tools to track her husband’s ex-wife for personal reasons.
Detective Brandy Almany was arrested on July 23, 2026, and charged with official misconduct and multiple counts of offenses against computer users. She bonded out of jail later that night.
According to Sumter County Sheriff Patrick Breeden, an internal audit revealed that Almany accessed several restricted databases, including the Flock Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) system, the Florida Driver and Vehicle Information Database (DAVID), and the Comprehensive Case Information System (CCIS).
Investigators say Almany created fake electronic records, using unrelated case numbers to make her personal searches look like legitimate police investigations. Upon her arrest, she was immediately terminated from the department.
In response to the breach, Sheriff Breeden has suspended the use of all Flock cameras within the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. He has also ordered a complete internal audit of all law enforcement databases used by his agency.
“While I do believe these systems are a valuable tool for law enforcement, due to these circumstances, I have ordered a complete internal audit of all the databases and I have suspended the use of Flock in the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office,” Breeden said in a statement.
While Sumter County has hit the pause button, similar camera technology is widely used across Central Florida. The region has one of the highest concentrations of these devices in the state.
These cameras are not limited to police cars or street poles; they can be found at trailheads, private communities, and public parks. Some newer models, such as Axis cameras, have the *capability* to perform facial recognition. However, having the capability does not necessarily mean the technology is actively being used for that purpose.
Channel 9 Eyewitness News has reached out to officials in Altamonte Springs, where Axis cameras are installed at Merrill Park, to determine if they are currently utilizing facial recognition features. We are waiting for a response.
How to check for cameras in your neighborhood
If you want to see if there are cameras near your home or workplace, you can view a crowdsourced map of these devices at **DeFlock.org**. The site allows users to search by location and identifies which cameras may have facial recognition capabilities.
We will update this story as we hear back from local agencies regarding their use of facial recognition technology.
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