‘The city’s position creates great confusion among Tallahassee residents who are subjugated to city surveillance that has been rejected by the State and County.’
Tallahassee City Commissioner and mayoral candidate Jeremy Matlow is ratcheting up the pressure on local officials to join the growing list of jurisdictions ditching Flock and other automated license plate readers (LPRs).
Matlow sent City Manager Reese Goad a letter urging Tallahassee to remove its cameras. He cited recent decisions by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Leon County and two dozen other Florida counties to take down their LPRs.
“These new revelations put the Tallahassee Police Department at odds with the State position and other law enforcement agencies in our community,” Matlow wrote. “The city’s position creates great confusion among Tallahassee residents who are subjugated to city surveillance that has been rejected by the State and County.”
He also requested that Goad schedule an update on the issue at the Commission’s Sept. 9 meeting.
Matlow’s renewed push Wednesday comes less than a week after he motioned to remove the city’s cameras at the Aug. 26 Commission meeting. That vote fell along the usual 3-2 split that has divided the Commission’s moderates and progressives on a number of controversial issues lately.
However, the landscape has changed rapidly in the days since that vote.
On Aug. 31, FDOT revoked its permits for all Flock cameras along state rights of way shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis remarked that LPRs were “out of control,” and set a 30-day deadline to remove them. The same day, Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil issued an order immediately suspending his agency’s use of the cameras.
Public opinion has soured on Flock, and Matlow seems to sense that. His push to pull the plug on Flock comes as he battles to become Tallahassee’s next Mayor, having won a narrow plurality of votes in the Aug. 18 Primary and advancing to a November runoff.
He will face off against former Sen. Loranne Ausley, who has not taken a strong public stance on the issue.
Election Day is Nov. 3.
