SWFL license plate cameras solve crimes but spark privacy worries

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) — Automated license plate reader cameras have helped crack some of the biggest cases in Southwest Florida, but their misuse by some law enforcement officers is raising serious concerns.

Flock Safety says their cameras have helped in more than a million investigations and located 10,000 missing people nationwide.

One of the most notable local cases involved a decomposing body found near rural Bermont Road in Charlotte County.

Investigators grew suspicious when license plate readers picked up a truck belonging to Lori Hamilton near the scene, an area she had never been spotted in before.

Hamilton reported her friend, Brenda Corbin, missing.

"The image that was caught with the LPR had a bunch of the evidence we collected that the scene was also seen in the truck on the LPR that helped us put that link together," said Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell.

Hamilton is now in the Charlotte County Jail, charged in connection with Corbin's death, and pleaded not guilty at her arraignment.

Court records show investigators used license plate readers to connect the dots in a case that took more than a year to build.

Corbin's daughter, Heather Bliss, said she was relieved to finally get some answers after waiting so long.

"I'm happy that something is being done. I would like for more to be done," said Bliss.

In Cape Coral, Police Chief Anthony Sizemore says the cameras helped solve two of the biggest homicide cases in the city's history.

"There are two pretty high-profile homicide cases that we've had here in Cape Coral, and both of them resulted in a guilty conviction and a life sentence for the offender," said Sizemore.

One of those cases involved Christopher Davis, who was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his boyfriend, Barry Schmalbach, whose body has never been found.

Prosecutors said Davis rented a house in a remote part of Hendry County and purchased a pickax and shovel.

Flock cameras spotted Davis driving a clean Jeep one night and then a dirty Jeep the next day, evidence that helped put him behind bars for life.

"So, they've really been a successful tool for us, and we've been good stewards of that information for a decade," said Sizemore.

But not every department has used the technology responsibly.

In Sarasota, former police officer Cory Waiters is facing two felony charges for misusing Flock license plate cameras.

Records show Waiters searched the same license plate 355 times, including 121 times in a single day.

Police have not said who Waiters was tracking or why he repeatedly searched the plate.

Waiters was fired and arrested in August.

That same month, a Haines City police officer was charged with misusing Flock cameras to track his estranged ex-wife, with court records showing he searched her license plate more than 700 times.

Dozens of law enforcement officers nationwide, including some in Florida, have been investigated or charged with misusing license plate reader databases to stalk or harass former romantic partners and private citizens.

In Georgia, six former Savannah Police Department employees faced criminal investigations and terminations.

Multiple officers across Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio have also been suspended or demoted for illegal use of the database.

Despite the controversies, Sizemore says his department has worked to maintain public trust.

"We've been using it responsibly for 10 years, with great success, with great oversight and with great, I would say, congruence with the Constitution," said Sizemore.