Florida Pulled Flock's License-Plate Cameras Off State Highways

Florida's transportation agency revoked every permit for Flock's license-plate cameras on state highways on Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. The order pulls the cameras off the roads the state controls and leaves the local streets, parking lots, and private property where most Flock units actually run untouched.

Flock, the Colorado-based automatic license-plate-reader company, sells networked cameras that police departments use to log every passing plate. Florida Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Will Watts issued Engineering/Operations Memorandum EOM 26-01 on Aug. 31, giving agencies 30 days to remove Flock and other license-plate-reader cameras from the right of way of State Highway System roads, with FDOT prepared to pull the devices itself. The right of way is the strip of road a state agency controls. Most Flock units sit on local streets, parking lots, and private property instead.

The memo declares all prior LPR permits in the state highway right of way to be temporary and "hereby revoked" and says FDOT will not issue new ones, per Gizmodo's read of the document and the Orlando Sentinel's reporting. The stated rationale cites an "exponential increase in deployments," "concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns and surveillance schemes," and a goal to "preserve Floridians' sovereignty and quality of life."

Watts is an FDOT assistant secretary who used the permit authority the agency already holds over state highway right of way. The path does not require DeSantis's signature. DeSantis told a Florida International University audience the prior week that LPRs are "out of control" but said lawmakers would need to act, ClickOrlando reported.

DeSantis publicly criticizes LPRs while his role on the State Board of Immigration Enforcement has approved grant funds to local agencies to purchase hundreds of Flock and similar cameras, per prior CNN and Washington Post coverage cited in the Gizmodo piece. His office had not responded by Monday on whether grant-funded devices are also affected.

Sheriff responses landed within hours and split on whether to comply, relocate, or comply in spirit. Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, whose agency runs one of the state's largest Flock deployments, said LPRs are "an enormously valuable investigative tool" but "given the decision made at the state level and the concerns expressed by members of our community, I have determined that discontinuing the use of this technology is the appropriate course of action at this time." Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said "recent orders and statements from our Governor and Department of Transportation have made it clear that LPRs are no longer workable in Florida" and that legislative guardrails would be needed for any future use. Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey announced he will stop using LPRs and honor the spirit of the memo, even on roads where he is not legally required to.

Orange County Sheriff John Mina pushed back. His agency operates 160 cameras at a cost of $158,000 a year. He told the Orlando Sentinel losing them would be "a huge detriment to law enforcement" and "a big win for the criminals." The memo gives Mina no instruction on non-state roads, so his agency can keep the cameras running on city and county streets.

Local governments are also moving. The Oviedo City Council voted Monday to remove all eight city-funded Flock cameras and stop funding the program after roughly two dozen residents spoke against the technology, the Sentinel reported.

Alleged misuse is the backdrop the memo cites without naming. A Kentucky police officer was arrested last week for allegedly using Flock cameras to surveil an ex-girlfriend, part of a pattern the Washington Post found in cases where police departments did not know their own officers had misused the system. Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, said on Fox News that law enforcement monitoring of comings and goings of citizens is wrong: "we're not the CCP, we're not 1984 and an Orwellian society, and Americans have rights."

The 30-day window runs through September. FDOT's authority stops at the state highway line. Whether sheriffs comply, relocate cameras to local roads, or keep operating on private property, and whether Flock or a police agency sues, will set the actual shape of the network. DeSantis said a permanent ban would need legislative action, and that path runs through the state House and Senate, not the DOT.