DeFlock NSBPublic safety shouldn’t mean permanent surveillance.
Your daily movements should not belong in someone else’s database.
All automated license-plate readers in New Smyrna Beach have been deactivated since August 31, 2026, according to the Police Department. The Volusia Sheriff’s Office also shut down its LPR program. The next task is accountability: document what was operated, remove or dispose of the equipment, account for stored data and contracts, and require a public vote before any system returns.
140
ALPR cameras mapped across the United States in September 2026
120
cameras in Flock's network, according to the company
7
current default retention period stated by Flock Safety
0
active ALPRs in New Smyrna Beach since Aug. 31, according to the city
What a license-plate reader records about you
It scans passing plates
Mounted on poles at intersections and town entrances, the camera photographs vehicles passing within its field of view, converts visible plates to text, and logs the time, place, and direction of travel, along with characteristics such as the make, model, and color of the vehicle.
It builds a history
Each read is filed into a searchable database: a record of the participating cameras that captured a vehicle. Flock's policy, updated June 30, 2026, states a seven-day default retention period, though a customer's law or policy may require a different schedule.
It is a network, not a camera
Local reads can become available through a nationwide system when agencies enable sharing or enter sharing agreements. Reporting has documented local and federal access to plate data far from the community where an image was captured.
Why this matters for your rights
The Fourth Amendment
Americans have the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches. Aggregating many drivers' movements without a warrant or individualized suspicion raises the kind of concern the Fourth Amendment was written to address. The writs of assistance that let the Crown search colonists at will helped spark the Revolution.
Government that stays in its lane
A free people should not have to assume the government is recording where they go. Mass surveillance treats every resident as a suspect. Once the infrastructure is built, its uses can grow; that is mission creep. Flock says records are transferred to AWS infrastructure in the United States, and reporting based on public records found that Volusia deputies searched camera data captured as far away as Nevada.
Innocent until proven guilty
These cameras capture vehicles that pass them, including vehicles driven by people suspected of nothing: churchgoers, gun owners, patients, and business owners. A system that collects first and asks questions later quietly inverts the presumption of innocence.
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…”
United States Constitution, Amendment IV
Find the readers near you.
This live map is drawn from DeFlock, an open-source project that documents license-plate readers using public records and volunteer reports. A mapped camera may now be inactive or awaiting removal, and an unmarked reader may still exist. The map remains useful as a public inventory: report equipment you can safely observe from public space, and never damage or tamper with it.
What we know and what we are not being told.
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New Smyrna Beach readers are deactivated
On September 2, 2026, New Smyrna Beach Police said every ALPR in the city had been deactivated since August 31. The department said it was reviewing state memorandums and evaluating its next steps.
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The Sheriff’s Office stopped using LPRs
Sheriff Mike Chitwood announced an immediate shutdown on August 31, saying the agency would not use LPRs without clearer guidance and a legal framework from the Florida Legislature.
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State-road permits are being revoked
On August 31, the Florida Department of Transportation directed law-enforcement agencies to remove permitted LPR systems from state-road rights of way. That statewide action is separate from the broader local decisions by New Smyrna Beach Police and the Sheriff’s Office to deactivate their systems.
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The contracts still matter
New Smyrna Beach approved its original Flock contract on the February 27, 2024 consent agenda. The May 13, 2025 minutes list additional readers, equipment, and software. Deactivation does not by itself explain whether those agreements have ended, what termination costs apply, or what happens to the hardware.
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A public inventory is still missing
The city’s shutdown statement did not provide a camera count, location list, contract status, removal schedule, or plan for previously stored data. A July report also appeared to show a Volusia reader concealed inside speed-radar-box housing, underscoring why residents need a complete inventory.
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County information needs reconciliation
The county still publishes a page describing LPR use at select parks in partnership with the Sheriff’s Office. Officials should clarify whether those park readers are included in the shutdown, whether they are deactivated, and when the public page will reflect the current status.
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A pause is not a permanent safeguard
The city described the readers as deactivated while it evaluates next steps; it did not announce a permanent ban. Residents can ask for a recorded public vote before any restart, renewal, replacement vendor, or similar vehicle-tracking system is approved.
It is not too late to act
Deactivation is a major step, but residents still deserve records, contract closure, data-deletion answers, and a durable rule against restarting mass vehicle tracking without public notice and a recorded vote. New Smyrna Beach’s mayoral election between Fred Cleveland and Lisa Martin is November 3; official August results show Jennifer Devine won the Zone 2 contest with 59%.