Cherokee sheriff’s deputy accused of misusing license plate reader database
A Cherokee County sheriff’s deputy has been fired and is accused of improperly using the department’s license plate reader database, the latest law enforcement officer to face charges over alleged misuse of the controversial technology.
The deputy, Cynthia Jodesty, is accused of entering the license tag information of another sheriff’s office employee into the agency’s automated license plate reader database while not performing a legitimate law enforcement function, the agency said.
Investigators with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office arrested Jodesty on Friday evening following an audit of the agency’s database, the agency confirmed Sunday.
Jodesty, 30, of Canton, faces a felony count of violating her oath of office and a misdemeanor charge of retaining license plate data obtained from license plate readers, according to an email from sheriff’s Capt. Jay Baker.
Baker declined to answer questions about the case or release any other specifics, citing the ongoing investigation.
“We are entrusted by the public to use this technology solely to locate missing and wanted persons and to investigate and enforce violations of the law,” Baker said in his email. “Any misuse of this technology by our employees is a serious breach of that trust and will not be tolerated.”
Jodesty, who had been assigned to the agency’s uniform patrol division, was booked into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center and released Friday night on $3,812 bond.
Jodesty declined to comment Sunday.
License plate readers are typically mounted on poles, streetlights and overpasses, and the data collected is frequently used to track wanted suspects or stolen vehicles. But state law restricts what can be done with information collected from the high-speed cameras and how long that data can be stored if it isn’t being used for “law enforcement purposes.”
In November, Braselton Police Chief Michael Steffman resigned after authorities accused him of misusing automated license plate recognition systems to harass and stalk people.
After a monthslong investigation, Steffman was charged with violation of a public officer’s oath, stalking, making harassing communications and multiple counts of misusing automated license plate recognition systems, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Steffman passed away in April.
About the Author
Reed Williams is an enterprise reporter on the Local team at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
