Overview
- This week Florida’s transportation agency revoked permits for automated license‑plate readers on state rights‑of‑way and gave agencies 30 days to remove covered cameras while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to pause funding for Flock deployments.
- Local officials have acted quickly: Miami‑Dade disabled cameras on state infrastructure and suspended its LPR program, Dallas said it will cancel 321 state‑funded Flock units effective Sept. 15, Monroe County (Mich.) voted 8–1 to end its program, and Livingston County temporarily removed cameras after repeated vandalism.
- The policy moves respond to audits and reporting that documented officers using the system for nonofficial searches, wide external access to vehicle‑movement records, cross‑jurisdictional tracking, and high false‑alert rates that raise privacy and misuse concerns.
- Flock Safety has defended the tool’s public‑safety value while rolling out technical and policy changes such as a seven‑day default retention for new customers, mandatory audit tools, and case‑code requirements, but questions remain about enforcement, contracts and access controls.
- The dispute has sparked criminal and administrative probes, local ballot and procurement fights, vandalism and fresh scrutiny of public spending — including reporting that roughly $30 million in Texas taxpayer money has supported deployments — and may prompt new state or federal limits on use and funding.