Pinellas shelves ban on Flock cameras

Catch up quick: Flock cameras and other automated license plate use AI to scan and store information including license plate numbers, vehicle models, colors, car makes, dents and bumper stickers.

• Commissioner Vince Nowicki's resolution would have ended the county's contracts with plate-reader companies like Flock and removed their cameras from county roads within 30 days.

Driving the news: Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told commissioners Tuesday that a local ban wouldn't do much: "I'm going to move them off of your property, but I'll just move them somewhere else."

• Only about 60 of Pinellas' nearly 300 fixed plate readers are on county roads and would be affected by a ban, he said.
• Commissioners ultimately didn't vote on the resolution, choosing instead to wait for state lawmakers to adopt rules.

Flashback: When Florida ordered license plate readers removed from state highways in August, Gualtieri complied but moved the affected cameras elsewhere.

• He's called the readers "one of the best public safety tools that we have," citing their role in solving crimes and finding missing people.

Yes, but: Gualtieri says the technology needs consistent guardrails.

• In recent weeks, his office began rechecking every past query with a new automated tool. "I hope what we find is that we don't have any problems," he said, "but we may well."