City Commissioners have agreed to keep Flock Cameras in Tallahassee—at least for now.
Flock cameras are automated license plate reader systems made by the company Flock Safety. They record and log details of passing vehicles on public roads. Right now, 116 of the cameras are in operation around Leon County.
During Wednesday's city commission meeting, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said the tech has helped solve a few crimes already.
“It is an incredible tool that allows us to keep this community much much safer than we've ever been able to before, while still safeguarding the protections that we all want," he said.
His comments came after several public commenters, like Timothy Stadlmueller, voiced concern that the technology violates privacy and could be abused.
“I think that the framing of saying that this technology that was only recently introduced is suddenly indispensable to law enforcement is a manipulative one, and I think that if you require unlimited surveillance powers to carry out your duties as police. Perhaps a different line of work is in order," he said.
Commissioner Jeremy Matlow made a motion to ban and remove the Flock cameras in the city. He points out that prominent figures in both political parties have voiced serious concerns about the devices.
“Senator Bernie Sanders has called for federal legislation to rein them in, and even Governor DeSantis has said that they are quote out of control. I think Tallahassee needs to take the lead on this," he said.
Revell stood by the tech, highlighting transparency measures by the department like the Flock camera portal that allows residents to get information about how the flock cameras are being used.
Ultimately, commissioners Dianne Williams-Cox, Curtis Richardson and Mayor John Dailey voted against removing them. The commission did unanimously vote to hold a town hall to share more information about Flock cameras at a later date.
