- Florida ordered license plate readers removed from state highway rights-of-way.
- Longboat Key police plan to relocate cameras onto town or private property.
- Officials say nothing prevents those cameras from watching the exact same highway.
Florida made headlines last month when it ordered automated license plate readers off state highways amid growing concerns over privacy and misuse. As we pointed out at the time, the state didn’t actually ban the cameras or stop police from monitoring those roads. Now at least one department appears to have found a simple workaround. Keep the cameras but move them a few feet onto land that isn’t owned by the state. Then, point them right back at the same road.
The situation is playing out in Longboat Key, where the Florida Department of Transportation’s order threatens cameras positioned along Gulf of Mexico Drive, otherwise known as State Road 789. According to Your Observer, town officials have concluded that the cameras can simply be relocated outside FDOT’s right-of-way. Better yet, they can apparently continue watching the same road.
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