St. Pete man’s 3-week protest against license plate cameras draws national attention

Carl Gunn says Flock cameras violate privacy rights. Police, on the other hand, call them essential to solving crimes.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For the past three Saturdays, Carl Gunn has spent three hours sitting in front of Flock cameras at different locations around the city, holding up a weather-resistant, laminated cardboard sign to block their view.

Gunn, a St. Petersburg resident, said he began the protest after researching the license plate-reading cameras and concluding he could not stand by without taking action.

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“I want the people to know that these are watching us as law-abiding citizens. The Constitution protects us from this. It says it right in there but our government has forgot to read it,” Gunn said.

The demonstrations have drawn far more attention than Gunn anticipated.

“It’s gone far past my expectations,” he said.

His significant other, Deborah Deacon, has joined him at the protests. Gunn said the cameras only capture the back of his sign — unless he decides otherwise.

“The camera is seeing the back of a piece of cardboard. Every now and then, I’ll flip it around and they can read my sign,” Gunn said.

The protests have since attracted national media coverage.

“I didn’t expect the cameras and the phone calls and the media. It’s kind of overwhelming,” Gunn said.

Gunn argues the cameras represent government overreach into the privacy of law-abiding citizens, even as he acknowledges uncertainty about their full capabilities.

“What they’re shooting is your license plate, and whatever else they can do, I don’t know yet,” Gunn said.

The St. Petersburg Police Department has installed 50 Flock cameras throughout the city to help identify people and vehicles connected to crimes. A department spokesperson said in recent weeks that the cameras are essential, telling 10 Tampa Bay News they “help us find the people we need to arrest.”

Flock cameras were used last month to help track and arrest a Florida kidnapping suspect who had fled to Alabama.

The debate over the cameras extends beyond St. Petersburg. In Charlotte, North Carolina, residents offered mixed views on the technology in a separate report.

“I mean, I don’t think it’s overkill. If it protects the public and it keeps people safe,” one woman told affiliate WBTV.

Lee Myers, a Charlotte driver, raised concerns about accuracy.

“I don’t want to be driving down and my license plate gets confused with someone else because it was entered wrong. We don’t need that. We’ve got to be really, really careful with the technology,” Myers said.

Gunn said he hopes his protests will grow closer to home.

“I want people to bring a chair and an umbrella and just fill up the street. The more people I have out here, the more people are going to pay attention,” he said.

Gunn plans to continue his protest next weekend at the St. Pete Pier. He said he does not yet know the exact location of the Flock camera there and is inviting the public to join him in finding it between 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

10 Tampa Bay News has reached out to the St. Petersburg Police Department for updated information on its Flock camera usage and has not yet received a response.