Contract terminated: License plate detection systems to be removed from Pasco County: Sheriff

Commissioners,
Pursuant to Section 3, Paragraph 3 of the Interlocal Agreement between the Pasco Sheriff’s Office and Pasco
County Board of County Commissioners for the placement of license plate detection systems in the right of way,
dated December 10, 2024, I am notifying you today that I will be terminating that Interlocal Agreement effective
September 30, 2026.
It is clear to me from the discussion at the last two meetings that I have listened to of the Board of County
Commissioners on August 11th and August 25th that a majority of the Board of County Commissioners no longer
support this agreement which you passed unanimously on December 10, 2024. I do wish to thank the
Commissioners who have stood with law enforcement and public safety, however.
The Sheriff’s Office has been a strong advocate for balancing the privacy rights of our community members with
the needs of law enforcement to more quickly and efficiently solve crimes and locate missing and endangered
children and adults, including the victims of human trafficking. I would like to again reiterate those policies that
we had in place and I am grateful, again, to the Commissioners who have stood with law enforcement and public
safety at the last two meetings.
To reiterate, state law allows the Pasco Sheriff’s Office to retain this data for up to two years. The Pasco Sheriff’s
Office, instead, implemented a strict policy to only retain this data for 30-days, which is 23 months less than
allowed by state law. The Sheriff’s Office also limits the types of calls for service and cases for which this program
can be used to only felonies and select misdemeanors. The Sheriff’s Office also required all searches to be tied
directly to a call for service or case number and required a further narrative by the Sheriff’s Office member to
justify their use.
To be clear, these policies and procedures were incredibly robust and went far beyond what was required by state
law and what surrounding jurisdictions have in place. I support, and all deputies take an oath to uphold and defend,
the Constitution, something that we take so seriously that we are willing to risk our lives. Because of that staunch
support of our Constitution, I remain proud of our agency’s policy which was carefully drafted to strike a balance
between law enforcement needs and privacy concerns. I would also like to note none of the concerns brought
forward at these meetings have occurred in Pasco County, showing that our policies worked to protect our
community’s privacy, and it is disappointing that a majority of the Board of County Commissioners does not trust
the Sheriff’s Office or our deputies.
Please know that the majority of the Board of County Commissioner’s lack of support for this agreement will
impact the solvability of crimes and our ability to locate missing and endangered children and adults, including
the victims of human trafficking. This will also cause a strain on the Sheriff’s Office already limited resources.I also want to be clear that Commissioners may continue to receive complaints or see online discussions about
license plate readers in the County. As you heard during the Sheriff’s Office presentation at the meeting on August
11th
, there are currently more license plate readers put in place by private entities than there are placed by the
Sheriff’s Office, and the termination of the County’s agreement due to the Board’s lack of support will not impact
readers installed by private property owners on private property they own such as CDDs, HOAs, retail
establishments, or other private entities or cameras placed in State-owned right-of-ways which are governed by
the Florida Department of Transportation.
Sincerely,
Chris Nocco
Sheriff, Pasco County