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Yet another Upstate South Carolina deputy has allegedly fallen prey to the temptations afforded by Flock Safety — an increasingly embattled, third-party surveillance system.
Days after confirming the story with other media outlets, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) finally conceded to FITSNews that one of its master deputies resigned amid an internal affairs investigation into his alleged abuse of Flock.
In the department’s official statement, ACSO said Eric Center had used Flock “for a purpose outside of the authorized reasons for accessing the system,” adding that it immediately opened an internal affairs investigation once the issue came to light.
“During the course of the internal affairs investigation,” ACSO Sgt. Kendall Cash told FITSNews via email, “Deputy Center resigned from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, effective immediately.”
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The sheriff’s office further stated that it conferred with the office of embattled 10th Circuit Solicitor Micah Black, who advised that Center’s conduct “constituted a violation of agency policy and did not warrant a criminal investigation.”
Of note, Black is the same solicitor who declined to pursue state-level charges against former Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright last fall, despite admitting in his declination letter to having reviewed “overwhelming evidence” against the career lawman.
Black’s controversial decision not to charge the six-term sheriff cost him widespread support within the Upstate law enforcement community he claims to serve. When talking to FITSNews, those same officers make clear their resentment hasn’t faded.
Wright was eventually sentenced to 41 months in federal prison and has since reported to serve it, no thanks to Black.
As for Center’s alleged Flock abuse, ACSO’s statement concluded:
“Accordingly, this matter was handled as an internal administrative/policy matter, and there will be no criminal charges stemming from the incident.”
ACSO did not disclose how many unauthorized searches Center allegedly conducted.
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RELATED | ANDERSON COUNTY DETECTIVE FIRED FOR FILMING, POSTING ‘SEX ACTS’ TO ADULT WEBSITE
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According to ACSO’s official Facebook page, Center was sworn in as a deputy in September 2023. Subsequent posts reveal he went on to appear on Season 37 of “Cops” and was selected by fellow deputies to receive “Deputy of the Year” in 2024.
Prior to ACSO, Center claims on his LinkedIn to have served at both the Laurens Police Department (LPD) and the Greenville Police Department (GPD).
Despite his law enforcement pedigree, Center now joins a growing list of Palmetto State officers who’ve allegedly abused Flock.
The floodgates opened just two months ago, when FITSNews exclusively reported that two Greer Police Department (GPD) officers were terminated after using Flock to track ex-lovers.
We walked out of Greer and almost immediately into Mauldin, where we exclusively reported that an officer had used Flock to track yet another ex-lover, this time 166 times.
Since then, officers across the state have made headlines for their alleged Flock abuse, including at least two lieutenants at the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) — who between them purportedly racked up more than 2,760 unauthorized searches.
Amid the relentless bad press, departments are fighting back with isolated examples of Flock being used for good, like Spartanburg County sheriff Bill Rhyne crediting the cameras just this week with helping locate a 12-year-old girl who’d been abducted in South Carolina.
But that goodwill hasn’t been enough to stop the backlash elsewhere. The city of Greer temporarily suspended Flock amid the aforementioned fallout, while Oconee County Council has advanced an ordinance to ban the cameras countywide.
If you know or suspect an officer of misusing Flock, write to Andrew Fancher at andy@fitsnews.com.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Andrew Fancher is a Lone Star Emmy Award–winning journalist from Dallas, Texas. He joined FITSNews in 2023 after leaving an NBC affiliate, where he served as on-air talent. His reporting focuses on public corruption in South Carolina, with an emphasis on law enforcement misconduct and abuse of power.