Missing person

St. Johns County, Florida commissioners approved a tentative flat property tax rate during a budget hearing that turned into a public debate over automated license plate readers. Sheriff Rob Hardwick's proposed budget increase includes $3.9 million for deputy raises, which he said would give more than 420 deputies below sergeant a roughly $9,000 pay bump and fund five additional positions. Commissioners heard extensive public comment on Flock cameras, with residents citing civil liberties and Fourth Amendment concerns and questioning costs and accountability.

The debate comes after the Florida Department of Transportation revoked permits for license plate readers on state roads, prompting questions about the fate of county-installed cameras and roughly $500,000 earmarked for related software, which Hardwick said could be redirected to jail monitoring technology if the program is shut down. Cameras remain on county roads for now, and Hardwick pointed to ongoing conversations with state lawmakers and the governor's office about the technology's future beyond his tenure. The debate mirrors a broader national backlash against license plate readers, with hundreds of cities and agencies ending contracts with vendors like Flock Safety amid privacy and misuse concerns. The next budget hearing is set for September 15.

Backlash against Flock Safety license-plate cameras continues to grow nationwide. In Texas, Hood County Constable John Shirley shut down and covered the county's Flock cameras, citing "warrantless tracking" of residents; county commissioners had already let his contract with Flock lapse. Elsewhere in Ohio, Michigan and South Carolina, officials face similar pressure: Dayton schools are drafting a use policy, Kalamazoo now requires public votes on contract renewals, and Horry County, South Carolina, plans an October policy review after a Greenville County officer misused camera data to track a former partner.

In Ohio, state senator Al Cutrona is introducing a bill making personal misuse of Flock data a fourth-degree felony, requiring deletion after 10 days and barring third-party sharing — following reports that Cleveland's cameras logged nearly 2,000 immigration-related searches. The moves follow a Washington Post investigation finding dozens of officers nationally misused license-plate readers to stalk women. Flock CEO Garrett Langley has acknowledged the potential for misuse and announced new measures, including cutting default data retention from 30 to seven days and requiring a case code before each search. The ACLU called the changes "a step in the right direction" but said they fall short of legally binding protections like those Cutrona's bill would impose.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco is ending the county's interlocal agreement allowing license plate reader cameras along county rights-of-way, effective September 30, 2026, after county commissioners withdrew support for the program at meetings on Aug. 11 and Aug. 25, despite unanimously approving it in December 2024. Nocco, who opposes the termination, warned it will hurt the "solvability of crimes" and efforts to locate missing or endangered people, including human trafficking victims, and noted his agency's policy limited data retention to 30 days, well below the two years allowed under Florida law, with searches tied to a call for service or case number. Private and state-owned rights-of-way readers will remain unaffected.

The move follows heightened scrutiny of license plate reader misuse in Tampa Bay, including a Haines City officer arrested after allegedly searching his estranged wife's location over 700 times using Flock cameras. Gov. Ron DeSantis called license plate reader use "out of control," warning against Florida becoming a "surveillance state" while still backing tools for catching criminals. He said legislative action is likely needed and is reviewing New Hampshire's restrictions as a possible model, after an earlier AI Bill of Rights effort stalled in the Florida House.