GBI Arrests Bartow County 911 Supervisor

Cartersville, GA (April 20, 2020) – On Monday, April 20, 2020, the GBI Region 1 Office arrested Stormie Watkins, 52, of Cartersville, for three counts of Computer Invasion of Privacy. Watkins was a supervisor at the Bartow County E-911 Center. While employed in that capacity, Watkins accessed computer files from the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) without authorization and for her personal use. The Bartow County Sheriff’s Office became aware of the unauthorized access to GCIC files and immediately contacted the GBI on April 13, 2020 to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations. As a 911 dispatcher, Watkins had authority to access certain GCIC files for official, legal, and legitimate purposes. The investigation revealed that Watkins abused this authority by accessing the files for personal reasons, a violation of Georgia law. Watkins was arrested without incident and is being held at the Bartow County Jail.