Volusia sheriff shuts down plate readers as FDOT orders permitted systems off state highway rights of way
The Volusia Sheriff’s Office is shutting down its license-plate readers, Sheriff Mike Chitwood announced Monday, the same day Florida transportation officials moved to clear automated plate-reading systems from state highway rights of way.
“Effective immediately, we are shutting down License Plate Readers in Volusia County,” Chitwood said in an Aug. 31 statement published by his office. He described the cameras as valuable investigative tools but said recent direction from the governor and the Florida Department of Transportation made their continued use unworkable without clearer rules.
Chitwood acknowledged what he called legitimate concerns about privacy, technology and data sharing. He also defended past uses of the systems to locate suspects, recover stolen property and find missing or endangered people. His statement said the office would need clarity, guidance and a legal framework from the Legislature before using the technology again.
State-road permits revoked
FDOT’s Executive Order Memorandum 26-01 revoked existing permits for automated license-plate recognition systems in department rights of way and stopped approval of new permits. Agencies were given 30 days to remove the equipment, according to the memorandum and WUSF’s report on the order.
The state action is narrower than a universal ban: it concerns cameras placed on FDOT-controlled land next to state roads. Cameras on private property or outside state rights of way are not necessarily covered by that directive. Chitwood’s announcement went further for his agency by saying the Sheriff’s Office was ending its use of the readers while it waits for a clearer statewide framework.
Images of damaged cameras remain unverified
A day before the sheriff’s announcement, CFL Report published photographs it described as showing multiple Flock Safety cameras cut down overnight in DeLand and De Leon Springs. The images are relevant local context, but no official agency release reviewed for this story confirmed the number of damaged cameras, identified who owned each device, named a suspect or announced an arrest.
The timing does not establish that the reported damage caused either the sheriff’s decision or FDOT’s statewide action. The official documents frame the policy change around state direction, legal uncertainty and concerns about privacy and data practices. Accordingly, CFL Report does not characterize vandalism as the reason for the shutdown; no agency reviewed has made that connection on the record.
The immediate practical questions are how many Volusia cameras will be deactivated or removed, which roads and municipalities are affected, what happens to previously collected data, and whether city police departments will make separate decisions. Those details were not answered in Chitwood’s statement. Until agencies release inventories, retention policies and removal schedules, the extent and data consequences of the shutdown remain unclear.
Sources: origin.volusiasheriff.gov, fdotwww.blob.core.windows.net, wusf.org.
Original CFL Report Facebook coverage (1 update)
These captions are preserved from the original posts. Early descriptions may be superseded by the verified information in the article above.
Facebook update — 08/30/2026, 12:28:37 EDT
CFL Report photographed equipment that appeared damaged or removed; its ownership and the cause were not independently verified.
Open the original update (caption above has been editorially corrected)
