St. Petersburg police chief defends Flock cameras amid FDOT mandate to remove them on state roads
Flock camera helps police find missing elderly man
St. Pete Police Chief Anthony Holloway is defending the use of Flock cameras. He says they helped officers find a missing 99-year-old man Tuesday. FOX 13's Kailey Tracy reports.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway is defending automated license plate readers following a state mandate that will require the removal of the technology on state roads.
What we know:
The mandate, that came out earlier this week, forces the removal of six out of 50 license plate readers in St. Pete, Holloway said. One of those cameras, he said, is the one credited with helping locate 99-year-old Karl Josephs on Tuesday.
Police say Josephs left his home in South St. Pete to go to his daughters less than 10 minutes away around 1:30 p.m. When he didn’t show up, she called police.
Officers put his tag number into the license plate reading system, and around 5:30 p.m., his car hit on a Flock camera in the Tyrone area. Officers found him safe six minutes later, Holloway said.
What they're saying:
"It’s huge because we wouldn’t have had a starting point," Chief Holloway said talking about the Flock cameras. "Our starting point would have been where he left his home," Holloway said. "So, maybe in time we would have found him, but we wouldn’t have found him right away."
Holloway expressed surprise over Governor Ron DeSantis’ announcement to ban the technology on state roadways, arguing that automated readers provide critical leads especially when time is sensitive. While acknowledging instances of law enforcement misusing license plate databases, the chief argued against sweeping bans.
"Did we have some officers or law enforcement misuse them? Correct," Holloway said. "But, OK, let's put something in place that when these law enforcement officers misuse this information, they will no longer be in law enforcement, they possibly can go to jail."
Holloway emphasized that the cameras capture license plates, not human faces, and all collected data is stored for 30 days.
To try to prevent abuse, the St. Petersburg Police Department requires officers to input a valid report number and reason to access the system. The department conducts random monthly audits on officers' computers and phones. If someone is caught looking up a plate for personal reasons, the chief says, they will be fired.
What's next:
The department plans to continue using its remaining 44 license plate readers across city-maintained streets.
The Source: Information in this story is from St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway and SPPD.