Public Safety

Franklin County 'Deputy of the Year' suspended a month over Flock camera misuse

Franklin County • October 30, 2026 • By Press Pass USA

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The Franklin County Sheriff's Office has suspended a deputy for one month without pay after an audit found he used the Flock license-plate camera database for personal reasons, searching three license plates about 450 times in just over three months.

In a press release issued at 4:59 p.m. Friday, Sheriff Dallas Baldwin's office said Deputy Robert Tischler used the Flock database "in a manner that was inconsistent with the deputy's authorized duties and responsibilities." A sheriff's office spokesperson declined to share additional details, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Partially redacted investigation records obtained by the Dispatch show Tischler made approximately 450 searches on three individuals for personal reasons between April 19 and July 29, most of them through the Flock mobile app on his county-issued cell phone. Court records show his marriage was formally dissolved on May 6; Tischler told investigators the first day he began searching one of the plates involved was May 7. The records also describe him as "spiraling" and "hoping for closure," though redactions limit the full context of those comments.

When the suspension ends, Tischler will be reassigned from patrol duties to the corrections division, which operates the county's jail facilities, and will no longer have access to Flock. Under a last-chance agreement he signed October 27 and effective November 2, he must work in corrections for at least three years, without access to several law enforcement databases, before he can request a transfer to another unit; any misconduct in that period could lead to termination with no ability to appeal.

Tischler, 39, has served with the sheriff's office since 2015 and won the 2025 "Deputy of the Year" award from American Legion Post 532 for two separate lifesaving incidents involving infants, according to the Dispatch. Baldwin said he ordered the audit proactively after hearing about Flock misuse elsewhere. "We have a responsibility to ensure that the technology entrusted to this office is used appropriately, responsibly, and solely for legitimate law enforcement purposes. That is why we initiated this review proactively," Baldwin said in the release.

The case is part of a wider reckoning over the camera network in central Ohio. Columbus paused its Flock system in early September after evidence of misuse by some of its officers, and the Dispatch reported that Newark police said October 28 they are reviewing Flock records after questions about a deputy who made more than 1,000 searches for a single vehicle. The sheriff's office has said it has no stationary Flock cameras of its own, but uses mobile cameras for limited purposes and accesses data shared by other area agencies.

Sources: The Columbus Dispatch (Oct 30, 2026); Franklin County Sheriff's Office press release (Oct 30, 2026), as reported by the Dispatch and J NEWS NETWORK (Oct 30, 2026); Franklin County Sheriff's Office statement on Flock cameras (Sept 10, 2026).