The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has ordered the immediate removal of all local law enforcement license plate readers from state-maintained rights-of-way. In a memorandum issued August 31, 2026, the department set a hard 30-day deadline for local agencies to dismantle the surveillance technology, primarily hardware manufactured by Flock Safety.
If local police and sheriff’s departments do not remove the devices by September 30, 2026, FDOT officials indicated the state will perform the removals itself. The directive specifically targets automated license plate readers (ALPRs) operated by local municipalities on state roads, a move that signals a significant shift in how the state manages roadside data collection.
Governor Ron DeSantis has characterized the rapid expansion of these camera networks as “out of control.” In public statements regarding the directive, DeSantis emphasized the need to prevent Florida from becoming a “surveillance state,” despite the state government’s previous financial support for the technology. Since September 2025, the State Board of Immigration Enforcement had approved approximately $4.6 million in grants to help local agencies acquire ALPR systems for tracking vehicle movements related to immigration enforcement.
Selective Enforcement and Infrastructure Exemptions
The new mandate is notably narrow in scope. While local police must clear their equipment from state-maintained roads, the ban does not apply to state-operated infrastructure. Florida’s SunPass and Toll-By-Plate systems, which also utilize high-speed cameras to track license plates for billing and enforcement, remain fully operational and are exempt from the FDOT order.
Furthermore, the state’s authority in this matter is limited to its own rights-of-way. This allows local law enforcement to potentially relocate cameras from state highways to nearby municipal intersections to maintain their tracking grids.
The crackdown follows several reported instances of system misuse within the state. In one case cited during discussions of the policy shift, an officer in Haines City was found to have used the ALPR system to track his estranged wife more than 700 times. Such incidents have fueled the administration’s argument that the decentralized nature of local ALPR access lacks sufficient oversight.
Industry and Law Enforcement Response
Flock Safety, the dominant provider of these systems in Florida, has pushed back against the total removal of its hardware from state arteries. The company stated that it supports “thoughtful legislation” to govern how data is stored and used but argued that the technology remains a critical tool for public safety and solving crimes in real-time.
Local law enforcement reaction has been mixed. Some law enforcement officials have expressed concern that losing visibility on state-maintained highways—often the primary corridors for criminal activity and human trafficking—will create significant blind spots in their investigative capabilities.
As the September 30 deadline approaches, the FDOT has not specified whether local agencies will face additional penalties beyond the physical removal of their equipment if they fail to comply. For now, the state is prioritizing the reclamation of its rights-of-way as a check against local surveillance overreach.
