Florida agencies split over future of license plate readers

I'm starting to speak now. Police are pulling the plug on those license plate reading cameras across the state. This time yesterday, we broke that news that FDOT announced plans to remove all license plate readers on all state roads. And since then, the fallout has been seemingly nonstop. Fox 35's Marie Edinger joins us live now. Marie, you were at a Lake County meeting today where they, too, decided to get rid of these things. Right, Jack. Lots of jurisdictions have been putting their use of these cameras on pause or just holding it up until they can get more guidance from the state. But Lake County was one of just a few places that says they are just skipping ahead and taking these cameras down right now. The seemingly sudden movement against automatic license plate readers has been mounting recently. It is diabolical. The surveillance state creeping into our hometown. Once that image is captured, it is, there's no telling where it goes. FDOT's announcement that the cameras are coming down from state-owned roads initiated a wave of law enforcement agencies and municipalities doing the same. Police departments in Titusville, Altamont Springs, Claremont, Groveland, Sheriff's Offices in Seminole, Volusia and Osceola counties, they all said they'll pause their use of license plate readers until the Florida legislature provides guidance. Lake County, the city of Oviedo and city of Edgewater said they're not suspending their programs. They're getting rid of them entirely and taking the cameras down. You dehumanize people when you put them under surveillance 24 hours a day. And I think it's wrong. The Orange County Sheriff's Office says it'll comply with FDOT's order for state-owned roads, but it's still using them on roads where they've been approved by county or city governments. Alachua County SO and Daytona Beach PD said the same. Just about every government and law enforcement agency that chose to pause their program talked about how beneficial the cameras are to investigations. It's good to have some technology like that out there. The problem is there has been story after story of abuse of license plate readers in the FLOC camera system. People using them to stalk and harass others. The city of Oviedo brought that up with representatives from FLOC, plus concerns about data sharing and how rules in their jurisdiction could get tossed out the window in another. I think we're being very responsive to this moment. I think it's improving the product overall. The audit assistance that automatically flags potential misuse was not a tool six to eight months ago. FLOC cameras are leased, not purchased. FLOC's website explains when an agency signs on, they pay for installation, then for an annual subscription that covers data storage, software and security updates, and maintenance. So for instance, the city of Oviedo paid about $9,000 to install its eight cameras and had a $24,000 annual fee. The city just voted to not fund the cameras in the upcoming fiscal year, and Public Works had the cameras down 16 hours later. That means Oviedo will send the cameras back to FLOC and wind up paying for about a month's worth of a subscription they aren't using. The state says any cameras on its roads have to be taken down within the next month. The mayor in Oviedo told me FLOC would have just retrieved their own equipment if the city hadn't decided to just go ahead and take it down themselves. I did reach out to a few other jurisdictions to see how they plan to handle removal. Reporting live, Marie Edinger, Fox 35 News. Marie, thank you. And just moments ago, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd responded to the state's decision. He says all auditic license plate readers on state roads in that county are already being removed, but cameras in other areas of the county will stay active. The sheriff says those cameras are a vital tool to keeping communities safe. Contrary to all of the white noise, contrary to all of the rhetoric, it does not invade personal private space. It sits on a public right of way and takes pictures of tags and cars and car colors, not individuals. The sheriff says he thinks body cameras worn by deputies are a bigger invasion of privacy than FLOC cameras, which is why his deputies do not wear them. Coming up at 5 30 tonight, Fox 35 dives deeper into license plate readers and what sets them apart from the other cameras we've told you about. In the meantime, you can read the state's order and how FLOC is responding right now on our Fox local app.