Florida ends permits for Flock cameras on state roads, halting future approvals

Our Take

This is the kind of blunt-force course correction that mass surveillance critics have been begging for. Credit to KRCG 13 for flagging a memo that most local agencies would've loved to bury: Florida DOT Assistant Secretary Will Watts didn't just pause future ALPR permits on state roads, he revoked every existing one and gave agencies a month to rip the hardware down themselves before the state does it for them. That's not a policy tweak, that's a statewide reset button.

What makes this notable isn't just the scale, it's the precedent. Flock Safety's entire business model depends on quietly stacking up permits across thousands of jurisdictions until the network becomes too normalized, too embedded, and too profitable to question. When a state DOT says 'actually, no, not on our roads,' it punches a hole in that model and hands other states a template for clawing back ground they never should have ceded in the first place.

Floridians should watch closely to see which agencies drag their feet on the 30-day deadline, and whether cameras quietly migrate to county or city-owned roads instead of disappearing. Check our map to see what's still running near you, and if you want to push your own city council or state lawmakers toward a similar reckoning, our take-action guide is a good place to start.