Florida wildlife agency secretly used law enforcement database to track critics

Florida's state wildlife law enforcement agency used a police database to snoop on more than a dozen of its critics, two Florida news outlets reported, raising concerns of First Amendment retaliation.

The Orlando Sentinel and the Miami Herald both published stories last weekend revealing that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) secretly investigated outspoken opponents of the agency's policies using the state's Driver and Vehicle Information Database (DAVID), access to which is tightly restricted to legitimate law enforcement purposes.

Targets of the Surveillance

Targets of FWC searches included:

• Brent Fannin, a documentary filmmaker who accused the agency of failing to protect endangered gopher tortoises.
• Katrina Shadix, who fought the FWC's decision to allow bear hunts and successfully sued the state over a pollution-related manatee die-off.

"We found out that they were illegally accessing our information, and it was these people who have spoken out against their policy and practices," Shadix said. "They're breaking a federal law to strip us of our constitutional rights, which is crazy."

How the Searches Were Discovered

According to news reports, an anonymous tipster emailed Fannin claiming that the FWC was tracking him. Fannin filed a records request with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, revealing that two FWC employees had pulled his driving records seven times in April and June of 2025.

When other activists filed similar requests, they discovered the FWC had also pulled their personal information from DAVID. The Herald reported that the FWC accessed Shadix's driving records 17 times between 2023 and 2025.

"Many of the searches correspond to days after individuals posted online or spoke publicly against FWC," the Sentinel reported. "Under the section which labels the reason listed for the search, it says 'Criminal Investigation.'"

Scope of the Surveillance

Longtime Florida reporter and columnist Craig Pittman reported that so far 16 environmental activists have learned that their driving records were pulled by the FWC.

Not all were typical activists. One was an elected Republican property appraiser, who is suing the agency for violations of civil rights and federal privacy laws.

FWC Response

An FWC spokesperson said in a statement to Reason that the Herald and Sentinel stories "mischaracterized the FWC Division of Law Enforcement (DLE)" and that "claims that the FWC misuses or weaponizes its law enforcement authority are false."

"To clarify, DLE staff do not access Driver and Vehicle Information Database (DAVID) records for all attendees before public meetings," the statement continued.

However, the FWC statement went on to say that "threats concerning the harming of officers, staff and Commissioners are taken seriously and is why it's imperative that law enforcement works to ensure public safety by monitoring, preventing, and assessing potential security risks to maintain safe public spaces."

The spokesperson declined to say whether Shadix, Fannin, and others were the subject of threat investigations or provide examples of any threats.

Broader Concerns

Government watchdogs across the state are not willing to give the Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration the benefit of the doubt.

If there is evidence, Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell wrote, "Prove it. Show the credible justification for why the FWC conducted every single one of the criminal-database snooping checks it ran on people who'd dared to criticize the agency."

Although DeSantis declared the state "Free Florida," there have been repeated instances of what appears to be blatant First Amendment retaliation by Florida officials against residents.

Reason recently obtained public records showing that high-level officials at the Florida Department of Financial Services launched a threat investigation against a 77-year-old man for sending a postcard to Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia that simply read, "You lack values!"

Free Speech groups also heavily opposed a bill signed into law by DeSantis.