JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — License plate cameras are supposed to help law enforcement solve crimes, but now the state says many of them have to go.
Several local sheriff’s offices in Northeast Florida have pulled the plug on the cameras, but the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office has yet to publicly say where it stands.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration ordered the shutdown of approved automatic license plate reader cameras on state highways, giving local law enforcement 30 days to remove them from the roads.
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Rindala “Rin” Alajaji, Associate Director of State Affairs at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has been vocal in its opposition to Flock cameras, praised the move.
“It’s great to see that the state of Florida and FDOT have decided to revoke the permits from state roads. I think it’s a great step to restrain some of the harms of LPRs,” Alajaji said.
Alajaji said license plate readers are promoted as crime-solving tools, including helping locate missing children and stolen cars, but she said searches of the database should require a warrant when connected to a crime.
“The technology is being touted as crime-solving tools. Ways to capture missing kids, stolen cars… if there’s a crime associated with the search, there should be a warrant required to search the database. A judge looking saying you can look this license plate up,” Alajaji said.
Action News Jax has heard from several Northeast Florida agencies agreeing to end their use following FDOT’s order.
But St. Johns County has not publicly said what it plans to do. The sheriff did not respond to a request for an interview or comment.
Action News Jax also reached out to the Florida Sheriffs Association for its position on FDOT’s order and whether new laws can balance public safety with potential civil rights and privacy concerns.
The association has not yet responded.
For now, privacy experts support the cameras’ removal.
“At the end of the day, this is all taxpayer dollars. They’re saying they don’t want their money to be used to surveil them,” Alajaji said.
But the cancellation could come with a price, because there are still questions about who could be left paying the bill.
Action News Jax has obtained Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Flock camera contracts and purchase orders and is breaking down what they say about getting out of the deal.
The city has approved more than $200,000 at a time to build out a cloud-based system that tracks vehicles in real time.
But when it comes to using those license plate readers, the state has ordered them removed from state roads.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has raised civil rights and privacy concerns about law enforcement’s use of license plate readers, or LPRs.
The JSO documents lay out the software, cameras, retention rules, and non-discrimination and public records requirements for the system.
Alajaji said the EFF has raised concerns about how the technology is governed.
“EFF has been researching, investigating, and looking at LPRs since 2012. Over a decade and a half. We’ve shown how it’s ungovernable,” Alajaji said.
Alajaji said legislation is needed to balance the use of the technology with privacy concerns.
“We’re a litigation firm primarily. We urge state legislators to impose restrictions on these technologies like a warrant and deletion after a deadline,” Alajaji said.
Taken together, the contracts show a city leaning heavily into automated policing tools.
But one section of Jacksonville’s contract with Flock suggests it could cost $500 to remove each camera.
Action News Jax reached out to JSO to find out how much removing the cameras will cost the department overall. The department has not yet responded.
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