Dear Coconut Creek community, you may have seen recent reports that the Florida Department of Transportation, or FDOT, is requiring certain license plate reader cameras located on state highway system roads to be removed. I want to assure our residents that none of the City of Coconut Creek's 10 flock license plate reader cameras are located on state highway system roads. Therefore, the recent FDOT action does not require Coconut Creek to remove or discontinue our cameras. They remain operational.

Our Flock cameras are used as an investigative tool to help our officers identify vehicles associated with criminal activity, locate stolen vehicles, assist with missing person investigations, and develop leads when investigating serious crimes. They're not used to issue traffic citations.

Now, Coconut Creek also operates a separate school zone speed enforcement program. The purpose of this program is to reduce speeding, encourage safer driving, and most importantly, help protect our children, families, teachers, and school personnel in and around our school zones. The program operates under separate Florida law, and the recent FDOT action does not currently require the city to discontinue it. There are also important safeguards surrounding the speed enforcement program. The Coconut Creek Police Department only allows three specifically authorized and trained individuals access to the system. Additionally, the system is not networked, meaning there is no outside access to view images or data captured by these cameras.

We understand that the use of license plate reader technology raises legitimate questions about the privacy and responsible use. The Coconut Creek Police Department is committed to ensuring these systems are used lawfully, responsibly, and only for legitimate public safety purposes. As the state continues to evaluate this technology, we will continue to review our policies, procedures, access controls, accountability measures, safeguards, and audits. Our goal is simple- to use available technology to help keep Coconut Creek safe, especially our children in school zones, while respecting the privacy and rights of our community. Thank you for your continued trust and support.