PASCO COUNTY, Fla. - Four Pasco County parents are suing Sheriff Chris Nocco.

They say his intelligence-led policing is violating their constitutional rights.

The plaintiffs say they were harassed or even arrested by deputies unfairly. They’d like this program to be ended.

Plaintff Robert Jones says he and his family now live in fear of law enforcement, saying Pasco County deputies were constantly at his home.

Jones says deputies would claim they were there to check up on Robert’s son, who did have a number of run-ins with the law.

“My daughters would be on the phone with me,” Jones said in a press conference on Thursday. “I could hear the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office banging on our windows and doors saying, ‘I can see you little girl! I can see you! Come here and tell me about your brother! Tell me about your brother’s friends.’”

When Roberts complained, he says he was then arrested 5 times on what he calls bogus charges.

“Watching these guys come in. Stick me in handcuffs. Put me in the back of a police car. For overgrown grass? For my jet ski trailer being to the house?”

That’s why he and three other parents are now suing Sheriff Nocco.

They want to stop the Sheriff’s intelligence-led policing, which has been in place since 2011.

In part, it targets those like Robert’s son who may commit future crimes.

The plaintiffs are represented by the non-profit public interest law firm, Institute For Justice.

“Quite simply, there is no such thing as innocent until predicted guilty,” said attorney Ari Bargil. “But in Pasco County, that’s exactly how to describe what’s happening, where police are using a crude algorithm to try and predict who will commit hypothetical future crimes.”

When asked for a response to the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday, spokeswoman Amanda Hunter says the Sheriff’s Office hadn’t been served and declined to comment on it. “We look forward to defending any lawsuits in which we may be named in the proper venue and will not be party to litigation via the media,” Hunter said.

However, the Sheriff’s Office has defended the program in the past, saying it has led to a reduction in all types of crimes.

Following a Tampa Bay Times investigation last year, PCSO posted a response on Facebook on September 8th, which in part said:

“Intelligence-led policing is not a futuristic, predictive model where people are arrested for crimes they have not yet committed. Instead, the system is based SOLELY on an individual’s criminal history. Multiple studies have shown that 6% of the population commit 60% of the crime and that is what this model focuses on.

Let us, again, be profusely clear that this model is based SOLELY on an individual’s criminal history. It is nameless, faceless, ageless, genderless and removes ALL identifying factors of an individual, EXCEPT for their criminal history. This philosophy removes any chance of bias in law enforcement, which is something that should be celebrated.”

The plaintiffs want a judge to stop the program.

“What is a parent to do when the person they’re supposed to call, the people that are supposed to serve and protect you, are the same people that are demonizing your house?” Jones said.