Florida Took Flock Cameras Off State Highways. Your Plate Is Still Being Read.
Florida's highway ban is real, and it is narrow. In late August the state pulled Flock license plate readers off state highways. City streets, county roads, and private gates were not part of that order. This month, lawmakers in both parties put bills on the table. One would ban the cameras and the federal money tied to them. The other would keep them and add rules: a written reason for every search, and deletion in 10 days. Neither bill is law. If a plate hit turns into a stop and a citation, the ticket is still the part that hits your record.
What's been happening
- In late August, the Florida Department of Transportation revoked permits for automated license plate readers on state highways. That is not a statewide ban. Cameras on municipal roads, county roads, and private property stayed up. (WLRN, republishing The Conversation, Oct. 6)
- Crowdsourced maps show nearly 10,000 of these cameras in Florida. That is what people have spotted, not an official count, and it is likely low. (The Conversation)
- A department can run a small set of its own cameras and still search a national network. St. Petersburg reportedly runs about 50 Flock cameras. Its officers can search cameras run by more than 1,000 other agencies. (The Conversation)
- On Oct. 2, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley introduced the Ban Flock Act. It would bar federal agencies from using automatic license plate readers and cut federal grants to state and local governments that use them. The sponsors say Flock has more than 120,000 cameras, and that at least 56 cities have dropped, canceled, or rejected a contract this year. Those figures are theirs. (Denver Gazette; House press release)
- On Sept. 30, Sen. Josh Hawley said he will introduce the Stop Flock Abuse Act. It is not law. It would bar sale of vehicle location data to private parties, require written approval and an audit log for searches, keep the data encrypted inside the U.S., delete it after 10 days unless a case is active, and ban facial recognition on these networks. (Hawley Senate office)
- In August, after reporting that officers had used the network to track romantic partners, Flock said a search now needs a criminal case number. (Denver Gazette, citing the Washington Post)
The Facts You Should Know
- This is not a speed camera. It does not mail you a fine for going 6 mph over. It records a plate, a time, and a place. A person still has to turn that into a stop.
- The highway ban did not turn the cameras off. The order covered state highways. City streets, county roads, and private property were outside it. South Florida mayors have already pushed to keep local cameras running.
- A bad read can still become your problem. Officers have used the network for personal searches. A false hit can become a stop. If that stop becomes a citation, the citation is what your insurer sees. The camera search is not the line on your record. The ticket is.
- The bills are not protection yet. Hawley’s version is an announcement. The Ban Flock Act was introduced Friday. Cameras are still reading plates while Congress argues.
- If the stop becomes a ticket, handle the ticket. In most states, an approved traffic school course can keep a citation off the record insurers use. It cannot delete a camera search. Do not wait on the camera debate. The due date on the citation will not.
The Changes and What They Mean for You
| Item | Status | What it means for a driver |
|---|---|---|
| Florida highway permits | Revoked in late August | Cameras off state highways. Not off city streets. |
| Florida local and private cameras | Still in use | A plate, a time, and a place can still be searched. |
| Ban Flock Act | Introduced Oct. 2. Not law. | Would cut federal use and federal money for agencies that keep these readers. |
| Stop Flock Abuse Act | Announced Sept. 30. Not law. | Would add search logs and a 10-day delete rule. The cameras would stay. |
| A ticket from a stop | Unchanged | Still a record problem. Traffic school applies to the ticket, not the search. |
From the Traffic School crew
The calls we’re getting are not about a fine in the mail from a speed camera. People saw a camera, or they got pulled over, and they want to know if the camera itself is the ticket. It isn’t. The ticket is still a citation and a deadline. If you have the citation, deal with that. The fight over the cameras will not pause your due date.”
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