The Florida Department of Transportation has officially banned police from placing license plate readers on state highways, according to a one-page memorandum from DOT Chief Operating Officer Will Watts. The move is one of the first examples of state regulators’ response to growing animosity directed at automatic license plate reader (ALPR) providers like Flock Safety, and which is not exclusive to Florida.
“While Florida law limits the licensing of LPR systems to law enforcement,” the memorandum states, “the recent exponential increase in deployments along our roadways, coupled with concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance programs merit immediate action to preserve the sovereignty and quality of life of Floridians.”
According to the memorandum, the license plate readers’ licenses are immediately revoked and police have 30 days from August 31 to remove them from state roads. The Florida Department of Transportation says it “will also use its discretion to cease issuance of all future applications for LPR systems within its jurisdiction.”
The ban on license plate readers came at the request of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who said in August 2026 that the use of the technology was “out of control” in the state. Removing cameras from state roads is an attempt to solve the problem. As DeSantis noted in a podcast episode promoting his position, the DOT rule change does not impact the 98 percent of ALPRs installed on local roads and private properties. The sheriffs of Jacksonville and Okaloosa counties have also committed to removing ALPRs from their jurisdictions. Removing (or reining in) the rest of the license plate readers in the state will require either more social pressure, or ideally new laws.
Automatic license plate readers have been around for decades — you may have encountered one running a red light or using a toll road — and states now rely on them for a wide variety of law enforcement tasks. That could include searching for stolen vehicles or missing people, as well as the more nebulous goal of developing leads in ongoing criminal investigations. For example, just over a week before the Florida ban, license plate readers were used to track down a murder suspect who fled Florida for West Virginia.
Flock, the ALPR company that faced the biggest backlash in 2026, offers plenty of examples on its website of how ubiquitous cameras could also help states and cities handle things outside of police work, like allowing firefighters to observe a fire before they arrive. The problem most people have with ALPRs is the idea of being constantly monitored and the already documented ways in which Flock’s own cameras have been misused. The company has attempted to address these issues with software updates to its platform and policy changes that limit how long images captured with its cameras are stored, but continued public outcry and continued vandalism of license plate readers ultimately appears to be prompting regulators to take action.
Aside from Florida’s ban, the Los Angeles Police Department suspended its contract with Flock in July. Earlier in August, two Ohio counties also suspended their use of Flock cameras due to reports of alleged misuse. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott went so far as to withhold funding from state agencies attempting to acquire Flock equipment. Most of these changes focus specifically on Flock rather than the use of license plate readers in general, but they suggest a willingness to at least consider different approaches to public safety.
