Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said he is terminating the agreement for license plate detection systems in the county.Sheriff Nocco said the agreement will end effective September 30.It is clear to me from the discussion at th e last two meetings that I have listened to of the Board of County Commissioners on August 11th and August 25th that a majority of the Board of County Commissioners no longer support this agreement which you passed unanimously on December 10, 2024. I do wish to thank the Commissioners who have stood with law enforcement and public safety, however, Sheriff Nocco said in a letter to Pasco County commissioners notifying them of the termination.On August 10, the Pasco County Sheriffs Office announced it would be changing the company behind its automated plate readers from Flock to Axon.Full letter from Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco: Commissioners, Pursuant to Section 3, Paragraph 3 of the Interlocal Agreement between the Pasco Sheriffs Office and Pasco County Board of County Commissioners for the placement of license plate detection systems in the right of way, dated December 10, 2024, I am notifying you today that I will be terminating that Interlocal Agreement effective September 30, 2026. It is clear to me from the discussion at the last two meetings that I have listened to of the Board of County Commissioners on August 11th and August 25th that a majority of the Board of County Commissioners no longer support this agreement which you passed unanimously on December 10, 2024. I do wish to thank the Commissioners who have stood with law enforcement and public safety, however. The Sheriffs Office has been a strong advocate for balancing the privacy rights of our community members with the needs of law enforcement to more quickly and efficiently solve crimes and locate missing and endangered children and adults, including the victims of human trafficking. I would like to again reiterate those policies that we had in place and I am grateful, again, to the Commissioners who have stood with law enforcement and public safety at the last two meetings. To reiterate, state law allows the Pasco Sheriffs Office to retain this data for up to two years. The Pasco Sheriffs Office, instead, implemented a strict policy to only retain this data for 30-days, which is 23 months less than allowed by state law. The Sheriffs Office also limits the types of calls for service and cases for which this program can be used to only felonies and select misdemeanors. The Sheriffs Office also required all searches to be tied directly to a call for service or case number and required a further narrative by the Sheriffs Office member to justify their use. To be clear, these policies and procedures were incredibly robust and went far beyond what was required by state law and what surrounding jurisdictions have in place. I support, and all deputies take an oath to uphold and defend, the Constitution, something that we take so seriously that we are willing to risk our lives. Because of that staunch support of our Constitution, I remain proud of our agencys policy which was carefully drafted to strike a balance between law enforcement needs and privacy concerns. I would also like to note none of the concerns brought forward at these meetings have occurred in Pasco County, showing that our policies worked to protect our communitys privacy, and it is disappointing that a majority of the Board of County Commissioners does not trust the Sheriffs Office or our deputies. Please know that the majority of the Board of County Commissioners lack of support for this agreement will impact the solvability of crimes and our ability to locate missing and endangered children and adults, including the victims of human trafficking. This will also cause a strain on the Sheriffs Office already limited resources.I also want to be clear that Commissioners may continue to receive complaints or see online discussions about license plate readers in the County. As you heard during the Sheriffs Office presentation at the meeting on August 11th , there are currently more license plate readers put in place by private entities than there are placed by the Sheriffs Office, and the termination of the Countys agreement due to the Boards lack of support will not impact readers installed by private property owners on private property they own such as CDDs, HOAs, retail establishments, or other private entities or cameras placed in State-owned right-of-ways which are governed by the Florida Department of Transportation. Sincerely, Chris Nocco Sheriff, Pasco CountyThis is a breaking news story. Stay with Tampa Bay 28 on all platforms for the latest information as it becomes available. ...read more read less