Matt Gaetz suggests Gov. DeSantis should consider removing Pasco Sheriff

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz wrote on Twitter that Gov. Ron DeSantis should consider suspending Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco for violating privacy rights.

The Panhandle Republican raised the possibility of removing Nocco after a lawsuit alleged the Sheriff’s intelligence programs resulted in harassment of citizens.

“I don’t care that this is being done by a GOP Sheriff,” Gaetz tweeted Thursday evening. “It’s awful to harass citizens because you think they may commit crimes, hoping to ‘make their lives miserable.’ Gov. Ron DeSantis has the authority to remove Chris Nocco and should consider doing so.”

Gaetz linked to a Tampa Bay Times article on the lawsuit in his post, which potentially reached the Congressman’s nearly 1 million Twitter followers.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Tampa federal court claims the Pasco Sheriff’s Office “punishes people for crimes they have not committed and may never commit” — a practice dubbed predictive policing.

Nocco’s office called the description false and said its Intelligence-Led Policing program is guided by a person’s criminal history or a school student’s characterization as being at risk.

“Far from being a predictive policing program that focuses on future crimes that someone may commit, the prolific offender program and the at-risk youth program are focused on serving our community,” a Pasco sheriff’s statement said.

The lawsuit was filed by the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm that represents four Pasco County residents who have encountered the sheriff’s program. The lawsuit’s goal is to end it.

Gaetz enjoys a personal relationship with the Governor. The two members served together in Congress and Gaetz endorsed DeSantis early in his bid for Governor, then traveled the state with him during his 2018 race.

After DeSantis won, Gaetz served as a co-chair for DeSantis’ transition team.

DeSantis since his election has suspended five local elected officials, including Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels. The Governor in Israel’s case cited poor response to the Parkland shooting in 2018, and Daniels was removed from his office after he was charged with a felony tied to a sex scandal.

Nocco, who took office in 2011, has faced criticism for an intelligence program that monitors citizens deemed likely to break the law, based on arrest histories and police analysis. A Tampa Bay Times investigation last year reported deputies find and interrogate individuals before determining probable cause, obtaining a search warrant or even finding evidence of crimes.

Four individuals alleged in a lawsuit that deputies raided homes of individuals, many of them minors, and harassed them with code enforcement citations.

“The U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to be secure in one’s home and to be free from arbitrary and suspicious police tactics,” the lawsuit alleges.