In stopped clock is right twice a day news, Florida is moving to ban Flocks from state highways.
Aside from Florida, there is a bunch of momentum all around the US now. Some cities just moved to another ALPR vendor like Axon. That sucks ofc. But many have eliminated ALPR entirely too, after citizens spoke out! Some cities had a constant stream of ppl speaking at city council meetings about it, months on end, dozens of ppl in every meeting.
It’s harder to deal with Flocks on private property. Like Home Depot and Lowes. A city gov terminating its own contract, doesn’t stop Home Depot. I dream of a coordinated, nation-wide boycott of co’s that put private Flocks in their lots. And letting them know exactly why.
Let’s keep the anti ALPR momentum going. It’s starting to see results. And don’t fall into the illogic of thinking it’s not perfect, therefore it’s useless.
FLORIDA BANS FLOCK CAMERAS ~practically nowhere~
No, that is untrue. I hate this kind of defeatism.
It is true by a simple count of cameras, most in Florida remain. But that is not the right metric, unless you planned a tour of every Lowes and Home Depot and w/e in the state. Getting them off the state highway system is a big deal. And more and more cities are starting to terminate contracts too.
Just because the whole problem isn’t solved in a single stroke, does NOT mean we should minimize how important each step is.
Not to split hairs, but I’m more confused than anything:
The last time, I was in Florida, I needed to buy some special toll card to use the “highways”. When I asked why, I was told that the U.S. Highways were free to use but their coverage was limited, so everyone use the toll-based " private" highways.
So, being the pessimist that I am, I assume they’re removing flock from the (few) u.s. highways but not from the private (often used) toll roads, no?
Can only speak for my area. (edit, not FL). We do have some toll highways, but it’s very small as a % of the total hw system. So it’s not even close to the majority of what ppl use. They do exist, however. All the ones I know about are not “private”, tho. They are owned and maintained by a commission of elected public officials who collects the tolls and allocate the funding to maintain the road. Ofc there are probably contracts to private companies for maintenance. But the road itself is not owned by a private co.