Sheriff: Removing Pinellas Plate Readers Would Just Relocate Them

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told commissioners on Oct. 27 that a resolution restricting license plate reader cameras on county property would not take them offline. "If you all pass an ordinance, or revoke the permits through a resolution, I'll move them off the property, but I'll just move them somewhere else," Gualtieri said. Commissioner Chris Latvala posed the scenario during the Board of County Commissioners meeting, where a resolution from Commissioner Vince Nowicki was under consideration.

The county has just under 300 fixed automated license plate reader cameras, Gualtieri said, plus plate-reading technology in each of the Sheriff's Office's 560 patrol cars. He said removing cameras from county land would not change the total in circulation. "All this is doing is squeezing it from the left hand to the right," Gualtieri said. He pointed to cameras along Interstate 275 that Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration relocated after deciding to pull readers from Florida Department of Transportation rights-of-way.

Latvala asked whether the governor's announcement had accomplished anything. He said he would rather wait for state lawmakers to act than pass a Pinellas-specific resolution. "If the legislature doesn't work, we can return to this in May," Latvala said. Gualtieri said he would back whatever the Florida Legislature decides, including stricter limits. "I firmly expect this would be one of the first bills taken up," he said, referring to the next session's priority list.

Gualtieri defended plate readers as an investigative tool and said his office has used audit tools to monitor the technology. He acknowledged that some agencies have run reader systems without sufficient auditing procedures. "We're cleaning it up," Gualtieri said. "It's evolving and getting better .. legislature should incorporate all these best practices."

The discussion in Pinellas comes as Flock Safety cameras draw scrutiny across Tampa Bay over how agencies collect and share vehicle location data. In St. Petersburg, the group DeFlock St. Pete has asked City Council to end its contract with Flock Safety and remove about 50 cameras. Concerns grew in September when a former Pinellas County sheriff's deputy was arrested after allegedly using a plate reader database hundreds of times to track a woman. Pasco County ended its Flock Safety contract in September. St. Johns County commissioners voted earlier this month to strip readers from county rights-of-way.