Officials in St. Lucie County, Florida, discovered that 14 Flock cameras were not permitted by the county. The revelation came after the Florida Department of Transportation mandated that all such cameras be taken down.
The county sheriff’s office was able to identify three of the automated license plate readers as theirs, but could not conclude why they did not have permits. The other 11 cameras have yet to be publicly claimed.
The directive from Florida DOT went out last month, giving local agencies 30 days to remove the controversial cameras from the state highway system. St. Lucie County officials thought they had 52 cameras throughout the roadways but discovered an additional 14 cameras not included in its contract with Flock Safety, according to the Washington Post.
The cameras were first discovered around Sept. 18 and quickly raised alarm among county officials. St. Lucie County Commissioner James Clasby was among the concerned.
“Not knowing who they belong to, I think, is another issue,” Clasby said. “Perhaps that goes about the entirety of Flock camera reform.”
Because the county does not own the cameras, officials have no means of shutting them down. But the county’s interim administrator, Mayte Santamaria, said the county came up with a do-it-yourself way of disabling the cameras.
“It’s like a bright red notice that says you have 30 days to remove this, and we will also bag the cameras so they’re not operable,” Santamaria said.
Homeowners associations, which are common in the Sunshine State, can also contract with Flock for its ALPRs, but the county has not said whether an HOA is responsible for the additional cameras.
Flock’s ALPRs capture images of every vehicle that passes by, creating a digital fingerprint that consists of the license plate, make, model, and any identifying features. While the 11 cameras discovered have been covered up and posted with notices for their removal, it is unclear what data was collected by the cameras and who can access the recorded data.
The surveillance technology company has been under intense scrutiny in the past year, as many residents feel the cameras are an invasion of privacy. There have been several reports of police misusing the cameras throughout the country to stalk former partners, something that has occurred in St. Lucie County.
FLORIDA AGENCIES BLOCKED FROM PUTTING FLOCK CAMERAS ON STATE HIGHWAYS AFTER DESANTIS CONCERNS
Earlier this month, a former Fort Pierce police officer was terminated from his post after he used Flock cameras and the department’s database to track his former girlfriend’s car hundreds of times. Josepher Crutchfield was later arrested on four felony counts related to accessing the department’s database without authorization.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Flock and St. Lucie County for comment.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
