On directions from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Miami-Dade County is disabling Flock cameras on the agency's infrastructure.
In a statement posted to social media on Tuesday, Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz and the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office said that "all cameras" located on FDOT property would be "taken offline" by the end of the day on Sep. 1.
Additionally, the statement said the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office license plate reader (LPR) program would be "suspended in its entirety."
Why did Florida revoke Flock camera use?
The FDOT issued a memorandum on Monday, Aug. 31, announcing that it revoked active permits issued to local law enforcement agencies for automatic license plate recognition systems, such as Flock cameras, installed along state rights-of-way. Local authorities
were provided with a 30-day window to remove them.
The memo said that "recent exponential increase in deployments along our roadways, coupled with concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance schemes merit immediate action to preserve Floridians' sovereignty and quality of life."
Additionally, according to the memo, the FDOT will not approve future requests "within its jurisdictional authority."
Flock Safety claims it has more than 120,000 cameras installed across 49 states.
Sarah Perkel is a South Florida Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Florida Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Miami-Dade disables Flock cameras after FDOT revokes permits statewide
