(September 1, 2026) \u2014For more than a decade, the Cape Coral Police Department has responsibly utilized Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology as one of many tools available to our officers and investigators.<\/p>\n
During that time, ALPR technology has helped us solve countless crimes and develop investigative leads that otherwise may not have existed. It has played a role in multiple homicide investigations, helping us identify and apprehend violent offenders who are now serving life sentences in prison.<\/p>\n
It has helped us locate stolen vehicles, identify suspects, find missing people, and ultimately hold criminals accountable.<\/p>\n
It is a tool. Nothing more\u2014and nothing less.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t replace good police work. It makes good police work more effective.<\/p>\n
I also recognize that there are legitimate questions surrounding ALPR technology, including privacy, data retention, access, sharing, and accountability. Those questions deserve thoughtful answers and appropriate safeguards.<\/p>\n
At the Cape Coral Police Department, we have spent more than a decade developing policies and practices designed to ensure this technology is used responsibly, and in a manner consistent with the constitutional rights of the people we serve.<\/p>\n
But the environment in Florida has changed.<\/p>\n
Our Governor has made his position on ALPR technology clear: He supports law enforcement and its mission, but wants the Legislature to establish safeguards and guardrails by drafting state law governing the use of this technology.<\/p>\n
The Florida Department of Transportation has taken actions affecting the use of this technology on state roadways. At the same time, there remains a lack of clear and consistent statewide statutory guidance establishing the rules under which law enforcement agencies should operate.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t believe local law enforcement should be left to navigate that uncertainty on its own.<\/p>\n
For that reason, I have made the decision to discontinue the use of ALPR technology by the Cape Coral Police Department.<\/p>\n
This is not because I believe the technology is inherently bad.<\/p>\n
It is not because I believe it has been abused here.<\/p>\n
And it certainly isn\u2019t because I believe we should abandon a tool that has proven itself over and over again in solving crime and protecting our community.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m doing it because I believe the time has come for our elected officials in Tallahassee to establish a clear legal framework for the responsible use of this technology.<\/p>\n
Give law enforcement the guardrails.<\/p>\n
Establish the standards.<\/p>\n
Define the accountability.<\/p>\n
Protect individual constitutional rights.<\/p>\n
Then let us do our jobs.<\/p>\n
At some point, we have to stop asking local law enforcement agencies to navigate this issue in a vacuum. If the state believes this technology requires additional safeguards\u2014and I believe reasonable safeguards are appropriate\u2014then it is time for the Legislature to establish them.<\/p>\n
That is what legislatures do. They establish the law. Law enforcement leaders then operate within that framework.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t believe it serves Floridians to have a patchwork of policies and prohibitions developed independently by individual municipalities, often without the benefit of the operational experience necessary to understand how this technology is actually used.<\/p>\n
Decisions about the operational use of law enforcement technology are best made by the law enforcement professionals responsible for public safety, within a clear legal framework established by the State Legislature.<\/p>\n
I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and I take that oath seriously. I would never implement a program, policy, or technology that runs afoul of that oath or the constitutional rights it protects.<\/p>\n
Every sworn member of the Cape Coral Police Department takes that same oath.<\/p>\n
And every officer who takes that oath in our department is administered that oath personally by me.<\/p>\n
That matters.<\/p>\n
Technology doesn\u2019t change our obligation to the Constitution. It also doesn\u2019t change our responsibility to protect the people we serve. And it doesn\u2019t give us permission to compromise either.<\/p>\n
So for now, we will step back.<\/p>\n
We will wait for our lawmakers to establish the framework.<\/p>\n
And when that framework is in place, we will evaluate it carefully and determine how\u2014and whether\u2014ALPR technology can be responsibly returned to service.<\/p>\n
I remain hopeful that it will be.<\/p>\n
Because I believe we can protect individual rights and give law enforcement the tools necessary to protect our communities.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t have to choose between public safety and constitutional rights.<\/p>\n
We have an obligation to protect both.<\/p>\n
For more than ten years, we have demonstrated that ALPR technology can be used as a responsible law enforcement tool while respecting those principles.<\/p>\n
I am confident that our policymakers will recognize that, establish the appropriate framework, and allow professional law enforcement leaders to do what we have been entrusted to do.<\/p>\n
Protect our communities. Solve crime. Save lives. And uphold the Constitution.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the job. And that\u2019s what we\u2019ll continue to do.<\/p>\n
\u2013Chief Anthony Sizemore, Cape Coral Police Department<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(September 1, 2026) \u2014For more than a decade, the Cape Coral Police Department has responsibly utilized Automated License…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-387465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}