State troopers use Flock license plate screening during Operation Tidal Wave.
By Kara Newhouse/Suncoast Searchlight
Original Air Date: June 13, 2025
Host: Amid a statewide immigration crackdown, Florida Highway Patrol has tapped into a vast private surveillance network. The aim: Search for locations where vehicles of interest are frequently spotted. Suncoast Searchlight obtained search logs, and Kara Newhouse reports.
Kara Newhouse: Florida Highway Patrol has cited immigration-related reasons when performing hundreds of searches for license plates in recent months. These searches were done using technology from the controversial surveillance company Flock Safety.
Flock cameras are posted on public roads, where they automatically scan and capture the license plate details of passing vehicles. This creates a record of a vehicle’s location at specific times. Law enforcement officers can use that information in investigations.
For example, in a hit-and-run case, an officer might search the software to learn where the offending vehicle regularly drives and then go to those locations to catch the driver.
Photo courtesy of Flock via Suncoast Searchlight
When running a Flock search, officers usually enter a reason for the query. Other details, such as the agency name, officer name and time of search, are also captured.
We reviewed a national database of Flock search logs to see how Florida Highway Patrol uses this tool. While criminal investigations were the most commonly cited reason for searches, we found that state troopers increasingly cited immigration-related reasons before and during Operation Tidal Wave.
That was a high-profile sweep coordinated by federal and state agencies in April. It led to the arrests of more than 1,100 people. Of those arrested, nearly 40% had no criminal record, according to a press release from the office of Governor Ron DeSantis.
It is unclear at what stage of immigration investigations FHP troopers are using Flock and whether information is shared directly with federal agents. But Florida law enforcement agencies, including FHP, have signed agreements with ICE that allow them to assist in immigration enforcement.
Ruth Beltran, a community organizer with the Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network, criticized Florida Highway Patrol’s use of the surveillance tool in relation to immigration enforcement. She called it “shameful.”
Ruth Beltran: It is shameful that they are using license plate readers—this technology—to target immigrant people and people who are really just going to work—working class people.
KN: Beltran said her group gets many calls from families of immigrants who have been pulled over by state troopers and detained by federal agents.
Meanwhile, Florida’s immigration crackdown has raised separate concerns within law enforcement itself.
Spencer Ross, president of the Florida Highway Patrol Fraternal Order of Police, said troopers are already understaffed, and adding more duties can slow response times and reduce their quality of service. “Every time you take somebody off the road to do something special, no matter what it is—it doesn’t have to be immigration—it reduces the number of people there to do our primary duty.”
According to Ross, the number of troopers on the roads has remained roughly flat for 30 years, despite the state’s population boom. And salaries haven’t risen with increasing demands.
Sarasota County Commissioner Tom Knight, a former major at FHP, said that when the agency’s duties change or expand, it can create a burden on local law enforcement to fill in the gaps. Knight served with the patrol for 20 years and later served as Sarasota County sheriff.
Photo courtesy of Flock via Suncoast Searchlight
According to the search logs, more than 100 law enforcement agencies in Florida use Flock. That includes the DeSoto and Manatee sheriff’s offices and the Sarasota and Venice police departments.
Fewer than 10 of those agencies appear to have run immigration-related searches in recent months, though. Of those, FHP conducted by far the most.
FHP officials did not respond to multiple calls and emails seeking interviews for this story. Flock Safety also did not respond to questions about the ways state troopers have used its database.
For Suncoast Searchlight, I’m Kara Newhouse. This report was produced jointly with Alice Herman. To read the full article, go to suncoastsearchlight.org/florida-fhp-flock-license-plate-immigration-searches.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.