· Palm Beach County, FL · State action
Palm Beach County sheriff says he got a state exemption to keep plate readers on Florida state roads
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told WPTV that his office received an exemption letting it keep license plate reader cameras on state roads, despite Gov. Ron DeSantis directing the Florida Department of Transportation in August to remove them. Bradshaw said the sheriff's office, along with the Secret Service, filed a brief with the state Department of Highway Safety explaining why the cameras could not come down because of the agency's role protecting President Donald Trump in Palm Beach County, and the exemption was granted. Asked why the cameras are also used for unrelated investigations, he said, "the law enforcement activities came first, the president came second." Bradshaw said the agency's use of the system is audited weekly, that he does not consider the cameras surveillance, and that there is no scenario in which he would take them down. The sheriff's office also has plate readers on county roads. We have not seen the exemption document itself.
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