Governor Ron DeSantis with the Florida Department of Transportation recently announced the removal of all flock cameras from state highways. The automatic license plate readers have been under increasing scrutiny over privacy concerns and instances of misuse. Still, that doesn't mean everyone is on board with the decision, and reactions are mixed across North Florida's panhandle.
“I'm all about having law enforcement have tools to be able to hold criminals accountable. I think that's important that we do that, and no one's been stronger on law enforcement than me. But I don't want to have this become a surveillance state," said Gulf County resident Stanley Dunahoo.
While he's glad the partnerships are ending, Dunahoo says his primary concern was about the devices being used for the wrong reasons.
“I just don’t trust that the masses of law enforcement are honest enough to deal with that," Dunahoo said. "I really don’t. There’s too many bad apples in play.”
Dunahoo also expressed displeasure with the arrival of Flock with no public input in his town Wewahitchka, which has fewer than 2,100 residents.
“So we got one red light, all right," Dunahoo said. "So, and then St. Joe below us is a fairly good sized town, but I mean, so I’m going to get surveillance four times before I get to the beach. You know, to me that feels like it's an invasion of privacy.”
Shortly after the announcement to de-flock state highways, law enforcement agencies across the state issued announcements. Wakulla Sheriff Chief of Staff Billy Jones said his agency had to weigh the advantages of potentially solving crimes, with the privacy concerns of local residents.
“While the system provided valuable investigative assistance, the sheriff determined that continuing in participation with the current program is not the right course for our agency,” Jones said.
Flock cameras and automatic license plate readers work by scanning passing vehicles' ID plates, transferring that information to law enforcement and allowing them to run it against a criminal database. Nearly all counties around Florida’s capitol have announced they’re de-flocking.
Yet even with the backlash, not everyone thinks getting rid of the systems is a good idea.
“Well, when I first heard it, I was pretty disappointed because of the number of good things that's done, children being kidnapped, adults being kidnapped and abused, stolen vehicles, that sort of thing, but at the time, I really wasn't aware of the abuse that was being done, where it's been used for private investigation, you know, people following other people and that sort of thing," said Wakulla county resident Pam Barnes.
"I still think it's a really good device, but [the program] needs a lot more oversight.”
Barnes is not alone in her sentiment.
“I think they are a useful tool to be used in Amber Alerts or crime stopping," said Wewahitchka resident Bonny Carr-Kipp.
“If you are not doing any illegal activities, then what do you have to worry about?”
Another resident, Carlton Rogers, told the Rural News Service he understands both sides.
"They do serve law enforcement in solving crimes but, at the same time the privacy of citizens is an important concern. Hopefully, a happy medium can be discovered."
Governor DeSantis said that he understands the benefit of the technology, but that the focus has to be on solving investigations.
“I think people are right to be concerned and I think you've got to have protections for people. But go after criminals. Great, let's all do that. But surveilling just regular Floridians' movements and how that data's used, you know, that's a, that's a bird of a different feather.”
