Sheriff announces all license plate readers will be shut down immediately in Volusia County

Our Take

Credit to WESH 2 News for catching this one: a sitting sheriff pulling the plug on license plate readers isn't something that happens every day. Most of the news cycle around ALPRs is departments expanding networks, signing new contracts with Flock Safety, or quietly adding cameras to intersections without much public debate. A sheriff reversing course and shutting the system down "effective immediately" is the kind of story that deserves attention, even without all the details on the table yet.

We don't know the full reasoning behind Chitwood's decision, and we're not going to speculate past what's been reported. But the move itself matters because it proves these systems aren't some permanent fixture of modern policing — they're a policy choice, and policy choices can be undone. That's an important reminder for residents in any county wondering whether their local ALPR network is inevitable or whether public pressure and elected accountability can actually roll it back.

If you want to know whether your own community has cameras watching your plates right now, check our map. And if you'd rather not wait for a sheriff to have a change of heart, our take-action page has steps for pushing your local officials toward the same kind of reversal Volusia County just saw.