Miami-Dade just shut down its AI license plate camera program. The order to do it came from the state's own Republican governor.
Miami-Dade County suspended its entire Flock Safety camera program this week. The move follows a state order removing the AI-powered license plate readers from Florida's roads.
A Bipartisan Retreat From Flock Cameras
Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration ordered the systems removed from state roads, with DeSantis calling the surveillance network "out of control."
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made a similar move days earlier, directing police departments to stop spending state money on Flock cameras entirely.
Both governors are tough-on-crime Republicans with deep law enforcement backing. Their moves signal how quickly political sentiment has turned against license-plate reading systems nationally.
Departments Are Falling in Line, Reluctantly
Jacksonville's sheriff paused his department's 150-camera program the same week. That's despite his office releasing a video just days earlier crediting the cameras with helping solve a kidnapping.
Not every Florida department is following suit completely. Sheriffs in Polk and Orange counties said they'll keep operating cameras specifically on roads that aren't state-owned.
"Technology already knows everything about all of us," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. "What we have to do in government is to make sure that it's used appropriately."
The Case That Pushed Texas to Act
Abbott's office cited a specific incident to justify halting state spending. An East Texas officer was accused of using Flock cameras more than 10,000 times to track an ex-girlfriend and others.
Flock's network now spans contracts with 7,000 law enforcement agencies and more than 100,000 cameras feeding a shared database.
What DeSantis Says Comes Next
DeSantis said he's studying New Hampshire's law restricting automated license plate readers as a model for Florida's own legislation.
"What we don't want in the state of Florida is to have a digital A.I. surveillance state where everything we're doing is being tracked at all times," DeSantis told reporters.
Some Florida law enforcement officials have pushed back on the order without directly criticizing the governor. Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell said "criminals are jumping up and down for joy" at the state's decision.
Where This Leaves Miami-Dade
Miami-Dade's suspension puts the county ahead of any actual statewide legislation, which doesn't exist yet. The county acted on an executive order, not a law.
This technology was deployed with essentially no federal privacy framework governing it. That gap between the order and the rulebook is exactly what Florida's next legislative session will have to fill.
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