Sheriffs drop license plate readers as DeSantis warns against ‘surveillance state’

Ron DeSantis insists no Florida governor has given law enforcement more tools to right crime than he has, but he wants them aimed at criminals, not citizens who have done nothing wrong.

Speaking in Jacksonville Monday, the governor said he’s certain that nearly every sheriff in Florida can point to a situation in which Flock-style license plate-reading cameras have been used appropriately and “probably effectively.”

His concern, he continued, is how the data can be misused. His comments came three days after he said he wanted the state to remove those cameras from state right-of ways and after the Florida Department of Transportation said in a memo that it has revoked active permits for automated license plate readers.

On Monday at least four Florida sheriffs — Liberty County Sheriff Dusty Arnold, Clay County Sheriff Michelle Cook, Duval County Sheriff T.K. Waters and Putnam County Sheriff H.D. “Gator” DeLoach — said in separate statements that they have ordered discontinuation of the Flock system in their counties.

“After careful consideration, I have made the decision that the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office will begin the process of ending our contract with Flock Safety and discontinuing our use of the Flock camera system in Liberty County,” Arnold said in written statement posted Monday on social media.

“This decision comes in light of the continuing constitutional and privacy concerns surrounding license plate reader system, as well as Governor Ron DeSantis’ decision on Friday to remove Flock cameras from state right-of-ways.”

In Putnam County, Sheriff DeLoach has directed all 18 automated license plate readers in the county to be immediately disconnected and fully removed within 30 days.

“Over the past several weeks, legitimate questions have continue to emerge regarding privacy, data sharing, and government oversight and the future regulation of this technology,” DeLoach said, as reported by News4Jax. “I believe the responsible course is to discontinue our program and our contract at this time.”

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said Friday that his department would terminate Flock cameras by Sept. 30 following two consecutive county commission meetings in which commissioners voiced strong objections to the technology.

“Please know that the majority of the Board of County Commissioners’ lack of support for this agreement will impact the solvability of crimes and our ability to locate missing and endangered children and adults, including the victims of human trafficking. This will also cause a strain on the Sheriff’s Office [sic] already limited resources,” Nocco wrote.

Flock Safety has said that in a survey of nearly 700 law enforcement agencies, more than 40% “reported that our technology was involved in recovering half or more of the stolen vehicles in their jurisdiction.”

Still, Flock Safety in particular has come under torrents of criticism over its technology, which includes broad location data collection and sharing. There have been several publicized incidents demonstrating how local law enforcement officers have abused the technology, as such as the police officer accused in Polk County earlier this month of using Flock technology to track his estranged wife’s vehicle 717 times over a 21 months.

Data harvesting 

More than 200 cities and counties across the United States have terminated contracts with Flock Safety, according to data compiled by Social Justice, a California civil liberties advocacy group.

“I don’t want things that are sweeping up just everyday citizens and we’re told, ‘Oh yeah, don’t worry about it, no one’s going to use it.’ And then to find out some company, you know, is harvesting that and they can make a fortune,” DeSantis said.

“If they can make a dossier on your movement, they will be able to make a fortune in selling that to companies for advertising and for product placement and all of these other things.”

This issue has made it more relevant for the Legislature to come back to Tallahassee sometime before he leaves office in January to pass an ‘AI Bill of Rights,’ DeSantis said — legislation he tried to push through the Legislature this year.

The bill (SB 482) included a number of provisions related to interactions with chat bots but also would have banned AI companies from selling or disclosing personal information of users unless rendered as “deidentified data.”

The Florida Senate passed the AI Bill of Rights, 37-2, but the Florida House led by former Speaker Daniel Perez refused to bring the bill up for a vote, even after DeSantis called for the Legislature to do so in a special session focused on congressional redistricting this spring.

Perez resigned as Florida House Speaker earlier this month after he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. ambassador to Brazil.

DeSantis noted that incoming Speaker Sam Garrison is likely to prove more amenable to the bill and said the Legislature could address it if the property tax amendment passes in November. Amendment 3 calls for an implementing bill to be passed by Jan. 1, 2027, if it if gets the 60% required from the voters, and suggested that could be the time for the Legislature to move on an AI bill.

“I’ve called for legislation that will protect Floridians from allowing the state to turn into some type of digital prison, digital surveillance state, where somebody knows everything about what you’re doing every day of the week,” he said. “You want to get in your car and you want to go to down to Buc-ees in St Augustine, it’s really none of the government’s damn business if you’re doing that, right?”