PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office says it has received an exemption allowing the agency to continue using license plate reader cameras on state roads, despite a statewide push to remove the technology from those roads.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told WPTV's Michael Hoffman the exemption is connected to the agency’s role in protecting President Donald Trump when he is in Palm Beach County.
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The cameras, often referred to as Flock-type cameras or automated license plate readers, capture license plate information that law enforcement can use to help locate vehicles and people.
PBSO has used the technology for years, including in searches for criminal suspects and endangered people.
“The thing that I want people to understand is this: It’s a very good tool to find people that we’re looking for in a law enforcement capacity,” Bradshaw said. “Not just for the heck of it.”
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The technology has also played a role in several high-profile investigations.
PBSO used license plate reader technology during the search for Ryan Routh after the apparent assassination attempt against Trump at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Most recently, the sheriff’s office said the cameras were used Tuesday while deputies tracked a robbery suspect. That incident ultimately ended in a deputy-involved shooting.
But the continued presence of the cameras on state roads comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis directed the Florida Department of Transportation in August to take action to remove them from state roads.
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Bradshaw said Palm Beach County’s situation is different.
“We filed a brief with the Department of Highway Safety up there in Tallahassee that, along with the Secret Service, and says, ‘Hey, this is why we can’t take them down,’ and they granted us that exemption,” Bradshaw said.
That raised another question: If the exemption is connected to protecting the president, why can PBSO use those cameras for unrelated law enforcement investigations?
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WPTV’s Michael Hoffman put that question directly to Bradshaw.
“There were some people who reached out to me and said, ‘Well, if they have an exemption to protect the president, why are they using it for other law enforcement activities?’ How would you respond to somebody with that concern?” Hoffman asked.
“Well, because the law enforcement activities came first, the president came second,” Bradshaw responded. “We’ve been using them for six years, so he just became part of the system.”
The cameras have also faced scrutiny over privacy and the potential for law enforcement misuse.
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Hoffman asked Bradshaw what safeguards PBSO has in place to prevent its system from being abused.
“If you have the right guardrails, you have the right policies and procedures, you can stop that from happening,” Bradshaw said.
“You can’t just put the information in there and say, ‘Gee, I’d like to see where my girlfriend was yesterday.’ This has to be a bona fide law enforcement investigation,” he added.
Bradshaw said somebody audits the agency’s use of the system every week.
The sheriff also pushed back against broader concerns that license plate readers amount to surveillance.
“They call them surveillance. It’s not surveillance,” Bradshaw said. “Surveillance is when I think you committed a crime, and we’re going to follow you 24 hours a day, wherever you go. We’re going to be there watching you. This is just a snapshot of a particular point in time.”
Bradshaw also argued there is no expectation of privacy when a person is traveling in public.
Hoffman asked, "is there any scenario in which you you would take down these cameras?"
"No," Sheriff Bradshaw said
"Why is that?" Hoffman followed up.
"No. Because they're legal," he said. "They're a great investigative tool. We help the public with them, and it's a crime prevention tool that we use to solve cases."
The sheriff said PBSO has license plate reader cameras on county roads in addition to those it has been allowed to keep on state roads.
