Florida County Won't Chase Owners of Unpermitted Flock Cameras

A Florida county has said it will not try to identify the owners of a set of Flock Safety cameras that were installed without permits and later taken down by people the county has not named. Officials say they do not have the staff or budget to run that kind of search.

Flock sells automated license plate readers, which record vehicles as they pass and are used by police departments and private customers. Because the devices photograph traffic on public roads, who installs them and who controls the data they collect are questions residents tend to care about. In this case, the county's position leaves those questions open.

The episode points to a gap in local oversight. When equipment goes up without a permit, a local government may have no clear record of who is responsible for it, and removal can erase the physical trail that would otherwise help answer that question.

The available details are limited. The county's statement does not say how many cameras were involved, where they stood, or what permit rules would have applied to them.