JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Councilman Jimmy Peluso will hold a meeting Friday at 10:30 a.m. at City Hall to discuss automated surveillance equipment policies, regulations, and more amid residents’ concerns about Flock cameras and privacy.
RELATED: Debate over Flock cameras grows in St. Johns County as residents raise privacy and spending concerns
Use of Flock Safety cameras has been a controversial topic across much of the nation, including Northeast Florida.
An apartment in North Jacksonville drew online attention when residents noticed a Flock camera positioned next to the community swimming pool.
“Take them down straight up. Nobody asked for it. We don’t want it — take it down,” Darrell Brown, a resident, said.
RELATED: Here’s where Flock cameras have been deployed across Northeast Florida
Brown called the camera “invasive” and said he doesn’t go to the pool anymore.
Some people have taken direct action to interfere with the cameras, including
On Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis called Flock camera surveillance ‘out of control’ and said that the technology has expanded far beyond its original purpose and needs legislative action.
“I think these cameras, the license plate readers, I think it’s out of control,” DeSantis said during a press event at Florida International University in Miami.
DeSantis said license plate readers were initially used in Florida for tolling purposes — scanning plates at service plazas and toll roads — but have since evolved into tools for what he described as criminal surveillance.
“This was something that was kind of out there in that vein, and then with this whole Flock situation, it’s now being used not for tolling by plate or things like that, but for actual criminal surveillance,” he said.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office defended its use of Flock cameras, saying it helped solve murders and save lives.
Over the past two years, JSO said license plate readers have helped investigators solve 15 murders, 17 kidnappings, 6 forcible sex offenses, nearly 100 shootings and 172 missing-persons cases.
“If someone misuses the system, we will address it,” the agency said in a statement.
Officials say the goal is to strike a balance between public safety and public trust.
“Our goal is to use technology responsibly to help keep our community safe while maintaining accountability and trust,” JSO said.
A website called Have I Been Flocked? allows users to type in their license plate number to see if it has been tracked in Flock’s system.
If no searches are found, it doesn’t mean that the license plate hasn’t been searched.
According to the database, its dataset relies on audit logs obtained via public records requests — meaning it’s not fully complete.
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.