Florida’s Department of Transportation on Monday revoked permission for local police departments to use license plate reader cameras along state highways, joining a growing wave of pushback against companies like Flock Safety that build and sell the devices.
According to NBC News, FDOT Chief Operating Officer Will Watts sent a one-page memo to law enforcement agencies statewide rescinding all previous approvals for license plate readers within state “rights-of-way” — the strips of land alongside or within state roads. Watts wrote that the change came in response to a “recent exponential increase” in camera installations and “concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance schemes.” He said the move was meant “to preserve Floridians’ sovereignty and quality of life.”
The order follows a pledge Gov. Ron DeSantis made Friday on the Real America’s Voice podcast. “We’re going to clear the state right-of-ways,” DeSantis said, questioning whether the cameras are limited to reading license plates. “These cameras that are out there now, who’s to say they’re only doing the license plate?” he said. “Now, they say that. I think it’s capturing people in their cars. I think it’s capturing way more information than they’re letting on. And you’ve seen the abuse.”
The ban only covers state rights-of-way — it does not apply to cameras on private property or on local roads that aren’t part of the state system. DeSantis said roughly 98 percent of surveillance cameras in Florida fall into those uncovered categories rather than sitting on state land.
Jacksonville Goes Beyond the State Order
In Duval County, home to about 1 million residents, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced it will stop using license plate reader cameras countywide, “effective immediately” — a step well beyond what the state mandated. The decision is a notable reversal for an agency that had previously described the technology as “an enormously valuable investigative tool.”
License plate readers have been around since the 1970s, but falling hardware costs and improved software have fueled rapid growth in their use over the past several years. Flock Safety, one of the largest makers of the cameras, operates a network that allows police agencies around the country to share footage with one another.
Texas Cuts Off State Funding
Florida isn’t the only state acting against the technology. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a halt to state funding for Flock cameras last week, shortly after a Texas Tribune investigation found that the state had been adding a $1 fee to car insurance policies to help fund local law enforcement efforts against catalytic converter theft — money that ultimately helped pay for about 2,000 Flock cameras purchased through the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Board. The Tribune also reported that Texas provided an additional $15.9 million to the state’s Department of Public Safety to buy 1,200 more cameras.
Abbott’s communications director, Andrew Mahaleris, told the Tribune: “To the extent that cities get any funding for those cameras, most of it comes from the federal government. To the extent any funding comes from Texas agencies, those agencies are clarifying that those funds cannot be used for Flock cameras.”
Flock Pushes Back
Flock Safety defended its technology in response to Florida’s ban, saying it is “an important public safety tool for law enforcement agencies across Florida, helping officers solve serious crimes, find missing people, recover stolen vehicles, and support safer communities.” The company said that in recent weeks in Florida, its cameras had helped find missing children, led to the arrest of a murder suspect, and assisted in solving numerous other cases.
The company argued that regulation, not outright bans, is the better path forward. “Rather than banning a critical public safety tool, we support thoughtful legislation and strong privacy, transparency, and accountability guardrails that ensure technology is used responsibly while preserving law enforcement’s ability to use effective tools to keep people safe,” Flock said in its statement.
