Florida Finds 11 Unclaimed Flock Cameras on Public Roads, Who Installed Them?

St. Lucie County, Florida, went looking for 52 surveillance cameras it knew it had installed. Instead, crews found 14 more that were not in county records and had never been permitted.

Three of the extra Flock Safety automated license-plate readers have since been claimed by the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office. Two other local law enforcement agencies said the remaining devices were not theirs, leaving 11 cameras on public roads with no publicly identified owner.

County officials have not established who installed those 11 cameras, whether they are still operating or who has access to any data they may have collected. That uncertainty surfaced while the county was trying to remove its own cameras, making the discovery an unexpected consequence of Florida’s broader rollback of license-plate reader networks.

What Is Known About The 11 Cameras?

The county believed it had 52 Flock cameras on its roads. A physical check found 66, meaning 14 devices were outside that known inventory. “Not knowing who they belong to, I think, is another issue. Perhaps that goes about the entirety of Flock camera reform,” said St. Lucie County Commissioner James Clasby.

An unclaimed camera is not proof that an unknown organization has been secretly tracking residents. What it establishes is that cameras were physically present where county records did not show permitted installations. It remains unclear whether those cameras are actively collecting data or who can access it.

“It’s like a bright red notice that says you have 30 days to remove this, and we will also bag the cameras so they’re not operable,” said St. Lucie County interim administrator Mayte Santamaria.

Flock Safety spokesperson Paris Lewbel said the company was willing to work with St. Lucie County to review the cameras and address discrepancies. Flock said permitting requirements vary by jurisdiction and are not required everywhere.

Why The Cameras Were Found Now

On Aug. 31, the Florida Department of Transportation revoked permits for license-plate readers located within the rights-of-way of roads on the state highway system and gave agencies 30 days to remove them. FDOT cited the rapid increase in deployments along roads, along with concerns about misuse, data privacy and surveillance.

Gov. Ron DeSantis had criticized the spread of the technology shortly before the FDOT action, saying at an Aug. 26 news conference that its use had become “out of control” and calling for legislative protections around how the data is used.

St. Lucie County separately decided to remove its own Flock cameras from county roads. It was that removal effort that brought the additional devices to light. So the 11-camera mystery did not begin with officials searching for hidden surveillance equipment. It began with workers trying to take down the equipment the county already knew about.

Why Flock Cameras Are Under Scrutiny

Flock LPR cameras capture license plates and vehicle characteristics, creating objective, searchable evidence that helps investigators identify leads and connect related incidents.

Florida’s state-level rollback came after reports of misuse and privacy concerns surrounding license-plate reader systems. The issue has also extended beyond Florida, with disputes in other communities over who controls cameras, how the resulting data is used and whether individual officers have accessed the systems for improper reasons.

St. Lucie County’s discovery exposes a narrower problem: even the basic question of which cameras are actually deployed was not fully resolved.

For the 11 unclaimed units, the next concrete deadline is already set. If nobody establishes ownership and removes them by the dates on the county’s notices, officials can take the next step themselves. Until then, the unanswered questions are straightforward: who installed the cameras, whether they were collecting data, and who could access that data if they were.