JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to critics of the growing use of license-plate reading cameras in Jacksonville in a post on Facebook on Friday.
“We hear you,” the post began. “We’re hear to break down the misinformation.”
The “What’s Fiction vs. Fact” message highlighted that JSO does not use cameras to monitor law-abiding citizens movements, rather to investigate crimes and assist “non-criminal investigations.”
The readers, sold by companies such as Flock Safety, are growing in popularity in neighborhoods, strip malls, and streets in Jacksonville.
But JSO told residents in the post the cameras read only license plates, not faces.
“(JSO) has access to license plate readers throughout Duval County, but we don’t own or control them all,” the post said.
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Within a couple hours of the post, commenters began to push back on JSO’s statements.
“We don’t own them, control them, but thanks to a legal agreement, we get to use the data collected by them,” said Brenna Bulwinkle Cook. “Who else gets to access what’s collected? Who verifies that the data collected is stored appropriately and/or deleted in a timely manner?”
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For its part, JSO said access to the information it collects from the readers is limited, requires training, and is governed by strict policy.
“Violations can result in termination.”
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Every search of the system is logged and can be subject to review and audit, JSO said in the post.
“Those are not safeguards,” said Clara Sowers Vera. “Those are measures taken after abuse is suspected.”
JSO said in the post that license-plate readers have helped police solve violent crimes, rescue victims and save lives.
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