ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A 99-year-old St. Petersburg man, whose family feared was lost or confused, is safely back with his loved ones. Police said a Flock camera helped pinpoint his truck and ultimately locate him.

The camera is located on Tyrone Boulevard North, which sits directly on U.S. Highway 19. Within the next 30 days, that camera must be removed as part of a state plan to get rid of all license plate readers along state roadways.

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“When you’re taking this technology down, then you’re also putting our hands behind our backs,” said Chief Anthony Holloway with St. Pete Police. “Without this technology, we would have never found him.”

The man was reported missing around 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tuesday. Holloway said his officers knew just what to do.

“We had his tag information. So then we also took that information and put input it into the Flock system,” Holloway said.

The man was heading to his daughter’s house, which on GPS, should’ve only been a less than 10-minute drive in South St. Pete. Police said the man ended up on Tyrone Boulevard, pinpointed by a flock camera near the Chick-Fil-A on the corner of Tyrone and 22nd Avenue North. SPPD said officers got to the man within four minutes of the Flock camera catching his plate.

Zach Schira, who is against this technology, said it’s a low friction option for police.

“They were able to find him with Flock. But we always have to ask, would they have been able to find him without Flock?” said Schira. “Think of the cases of like the officer in Florida who was caught using Flock 2,000 times to stalk his ex. We also have to consider the people who have been victims because of this.”

Holloway said there should be guardrails in place, but he wants law enforcement to continue using the tool.

“When you’re taking this technology down, then you’re also putting our hands behind our backs,” said Holloway. “Let’s look at all the law enforcement agencies throughout the state. Let’s see what they have in place. And let’s come up with a plan for everybody to use.”

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