Well-known Fort Lauderdale detective fired after investigation
A well-known Fort Lauderdale Police detective was fired after an investigation revealed that he used police databases to search his ex-girlfriend and her family and made conflicting statements about a tracker found on the woman's car.
As a recruiting officer for the department, Henry Lockwood III often served as the face of Fort Lauderdale Police. He helped lead efforts to advertise the department to Spring Breakers, as the South Florida Sun Sentinel previously reported, mentored youths and spoke about the force on national television.
'We want to make sure we increase in community engagement. The more we engage with them, the less problems we know we have,' Lockwood told the Sun Sentinel during the Spring Break initiative.
According to a Fort Lauderdale Police internal affairs report obtained by the Sun Sentinel, Lockwood has been terminated from his job after his ex-girlfriend raised concerns with the Coconut Creek Police Department about a tracker on her car.
During an August 2024 interview with an officer in Coconut Creek, the ex-girlfriend said she and Lockwood had parted ways in April that year. She went to the police, she said, 'as she was 'scared' and wanted to 'have it documented in case anything was to escalate from this situation,'' according to the report.
Two days after the interview, a Coconut Creek Police investigator followed up at a local Hyundai dealership where the woman had asked for help in finding a tracker. She did so, she told police, because 'on two occasions she noticed that her ex-boyfriend showed up to different locations without her telling him where she was. She found that suspicious,' the Fort Lauderdale Police internal affairs report says.
When the woman returned to the dealership to retrieve her car, the GPS tracking device was missing, prompting an employee to review the dealership's video. It was then, according to the internal affairs report, that the employee and the ex-girlfriend 'observed an unknown male walk into the service bay' toward the area where the car was located. The man was then observed leaving the service bay 'carrying the GPS tracking device in his hands.'
The woman told employees she knew the man on the video. The dealership's video cameras showed it was Lockwood who walked in wearing plain clothes to retrieve the device. He was on duty at the time, the report says.
Interviewed later by Fort Lauderdale Police investigators, Lockwood initially denied placing the tracker on the car but later admitted to it when speaking to a supervisor. Then he denied it again, saying someone else had placed it there.
Asked by Fort Lauderdale investigators why he had removed his uniform shirt while at the dealership, he replied: 'Because at that time I was not in any official capacity.'
Lockwood also used police databases at least 26 times between April and August of 2024 to conduct searches on his ex-girlfriend and people in her life, including her brother, friends and a former boyfriend, according to the report.
The investigation found Lockwood violated multiple department policies, including conduct unbecoming an officer and misuse of law enforcement authority or position.
Misuse of police databases for personal reasons can lead to criminal penalties, depending on how the information is used.
On Aug. 29, the report says, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department's office of internal affairs referred the case to the public corruption unit of the State Attorney's Office, which 'declined to review it.'
Neither the former girlfriend nor the car dealership wanted Lockwood to be prosecuted, according to the report.
'Honestly, I just want this to go away,' the woman is quoted as telling a Coconut Creek officer. 'I don't want Henry to be in any type of trouble. I don't want him — his job to be on the line — his career. I just want us to go our separate ways. So, he continues his life. I continue my life and we just be done with it. No criminal charges, no consequences. I just wanted this to be documented. And that's pretty much it.'
The dealership told police that it did not want to press any charges.
On March 5, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Walter Schultz signed a 'disciplinary recommendation' of termination.
The records show Lockwood has been represented by attorney Eugene Gibbons of Fort Lauderdale through the Fraternal Order of Police.
A phone message left with Gibbons' office Monday evening was not returned. The police union did not respond to an emailed message seeking comment.
This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.
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