PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco is terminating the county’s agreement allowing the Sheriff’s Office to operate license plate reader cameras in county rights-of-way, following public opposition and concerns from some county commissioners about privacy and how the technology is used.
Nocco notified county commissioners Wednesday that he will terminate the interlocal agreement between the Sheriff’s Office and the Pasco County Commission. The agreement, approved unanimously in December 2024, will end Sept. 30.
Watch report from Erik Waxler
In the letter, Nocco said his decision came after listening to commissioners at meetings Aug. 11 and Aug. 25 and determining that a majority of the board no longer supports the agreement.
The dispute centers on automated license plate reader, or ALPR, technology. The cameras capture license plates and can help law enforcement identify vehicles connected to criminal investigations.
At the Aug. 11 commission meeting, Commission Chair Jack Mariano questioned privacy concerns, how information collected by the cameras was being used and whether the program was constitutional.
"Our people are being surveilled. I wanna see what we are surveilling, what we are agreeing to," Mariano said. "There is a reason they [Flock] are making money. That's because they are taking the data and they are manipulating it."
The Sheriff’s Office also recently announced it was switching ALPR technology providers from Flock Safety to Axon.
Residents have also spoken out against the cameras. Several attended Tuesday’s commission meeting to oppose the technology.
"There's got to be some kind of justification why you are watching the citizens of this county," Hudson resident Jay Passwood said to county commissioners Tuesday.
Sheriff’s Office officials have defended the cameras as an important investigative tool, saying they can help deputies locate suspects and missing or endangered people, including victims of human trafficking.
"Time of the essence when we want to catch bad people doing bad things," PSO Inspector Arthur Madden said to the commission Tuesday.
Bryan Sarabia, division director for the State Attorney’s Office in New Port Richey, also cited cases in which Flock cameras helped investigators and prosecutors.
“The reality is these cameras exist anyway. Do we want Elon Musk to be making use of all of them and collecting our personal data for his purposes? Or do we want to give law enforcement the benefit of being able to utilize it in the investigation?” Sarabia said.
Nocco said the Sheriff’s Office had put safeguards in place to limit how the data could be used. State law allows law enforcement agencies to retain ALPR data for up to two years, but the Pasco Sheriff’s Office limited its retention period to 30 days.
The Sheriff’s Office also restricted searches to felonies and select misdemeanors and required searches to be tied to a call for service or case number, according to Nocco’s letter.
Nocco said ending the county agreement will affect the agency’s ability to solve crimes and locate missing and endangered people. He also said it will put additional strain on the Sheriff’s Office’s limited resources.
“Please know that the majority of the Board of County Commissioners’ lack of support for this agreement will impact the solvability of crimes,” Nocco wrote.
The termination of the county agreement does not mean license plate reader cameras will disappear from Pasco County.
Nocco said private property owners, including community development districts, homeowners associations, retail businesses and other private entities, operate license plate readers that will not be affected by the decision. He said there are currently more license plate readers operated by private entities than by the Sheriff’s Office.
Pasco citizen Jeff Cannon has strongly opposed use of the cameras and said, "Seems like it's a victory at this point but we do need to follow some of the actions that are taking place to make sure there's not different types of technology put in place to do the same exact thing that these license plate readers are doing."
The county agreement ending Sept. 30 specifically affects the Sheriff’s Office’s ability to place license plate reader systems in county rights of way.
Full letter from Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco:
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
Response from Pasco County Commission Chair Jack Mariano:
Re: An Open Letter to the Concerned Citizens of Pasco County
Dear Concerned Citizens,
I am pleased that our Sheriff will be terminating the Interlocal Agreement regarding the placement of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) in the public right-of-way. Our well-informed citizens spoke passionately at the recent Board of County Commissioners meeting about protecting their Fourth Amendment rights, and their voices were clearly heard. Local government must draw a hard line against mass surveillance. These ALPR networks are shared broadly, and the expansion of this data tracking across multiple private tech companies and law enforcement departments nationwide is deeply concerning.
Thank you for voicing your concerns.
Sincerely,
Jack Mariano, Chair
Commissioner, District 5
Share Your Story with Erik
For more than 15 years, Erik Waxler has called Pasco County home. He’s dedicated to helping his neighbors from New Port Richey to Dade City solve problems and celebrating those who help others. Share your ideas and tips with Erik below.
.
'My heart breaks': Woman describes helping injured students after deadly school bus crash in Polk County
A woman on her way to work Monday morning found herself helping injured Winter Haven High School students after a school bus crash that killed two people.
