Flock Safety license plater reader cameras deactivated on Fort Myers Beach

All Flock Safety camera license plate readers in the Town of Fort Myers Beach have been deactivated, Town of Fort Myers Beach Public Information Officer Abigail Eberhart said on Tuesday.

The move followed a vote by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council last month to end the town’s contract with Flock Safety for six license plate reader cameras in the town after of Fort Myers Beach Manager Will McKannay requested the town cancel the contract, citing concern about how the data was controlled.

Eberhart said on Tuesday that the town was “waiting on LCSO (Lee County Sheriff’s Office) to give us a date on the removal.”

Lee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jesse Santoro said on Thursday in response to questions from the Fort Myers Beach Observer seeking confirmation, that “All have been removed per the Governor’s order.”

Santoro also said the Lee County Sheriff’s Office has removed all Flock Safety license plate reader cameras from all state right-of-ways as per a Florida Department of Transportation order that all Flock Safety cameras on state right-of-ways be removed.

Lee County Sheriff’s Office Commander Anita Iriarte said later in the day that the Lee County Sheriff’s Office was not involved in removing the Flock Safety cameras on Fort Myers Beach though. “The Town needs to clarify if they removed the cameras,” Iriarte said. “We do not own, maintain, or remove any Fort Myers Beach Flock cameras.”

The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council first approved buying the license plate reader cameras in 2022, and the The Lee County Sheriff’s Office had access to the data, according to Town of Fort Myers Beach Manager Will McKannay. In 2023, the town extended the contract with Flock Safety for five years for six Flock Safety license plate reader cameras at a cost of $15,000 annually for a total of $75,000.

The town’s vote last month canceled the contracts for all six cameras.

The Flock Safety cameras on the Matanzas Pass Bridge would be part of the governor’s order as it is a state bridge. Big Carlos Pass Bridge is a county bridge. The town council’s vote canceled its contract with Flock Safety for the cameras on both bridges, as well as bridges near Times Square.

Under the terms of the contract, the town did not have access to the data from the cameras, but instead allowed the Lee County Sheriff’s to have access to the data through Flock Safety.

McKannay recommended that that the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council cancel the contract last month.

“I am not comfortable with the current contract structure, under which we pay only for camera installation but have no role in operating or monitoring them, and no oversight of those who do,” McKannay told the Fort Myers Beach Observer last month.

“Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) monitors the license plate readers, and while we have a strong relationship with them and no specific concerns about their trustworthiness or compliance practices regarding the cameras, we currently have no formal agreements in place with LCSO to protect the town’s interests,” McKannay said.

McKannay didn’t rule out using the license plate readers in the future if an agreement could be reached. “If such agreements are established in the future, I may recommend reinstating the license plate readers at that time,” McKannay said.

Asked to comment on McKannay’s decision, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno issued a statement last month the office said applies to all concerns regarding license plate reader technology. “There is no doubt that technology can be a double edged sword. While it has helped us in major investigations and locating missing persons, we must understand the general public’s fear of misuse,” Marceno said in the prepared statement.

The cancellation follows an uproar across Florida and throughout the nation about the cameras, and the invasion of privacy that they have been associated with, along with broader concerns about privacy protections related to the expansion of data centers. A number of police departments in Florida have cancelled their contracts with Flock Safety in recent months, including Cape Coral last month. There have also been allegations that the cameras were misused by some police officers in other departments in Florida.

Governor Ron DeSantis ordered the Florida Department of Transportation last month to take down all Flock Safety cameras on state roads, citing privacy concerns. The Department of Transportation gave all local municipalities and police departments 30 days last month to remove all Flock Safety license plate reader cameras that were using state right-of-ways.

“We will comply with the orders by our State partners while the legislature straightens the rules and regulations regarding the use of certain technologies. Our hope is that they move quickly as to not jeopardize public safety,” Marceno said last month.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office still operates Flock Safety cameras throughout the county in areas which are not state roads.

“I don’t want to have this become a surveillance state,” DeSantis said during a press conference last month denouncing the license plate readers. “At one point are we just going to be free to not deal with any of that?”