Welch called that \u201cknee jerk political theater that we do not need.\u201d He said the city has privacy protections in place and that the cameras are \u201chelping us track down people that make us less safe as a community.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s a strong enough argument that it\u2019s such an invasion, then we can take it down,\u201d Welch said. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen that.\u201d<\/p>\n There is a reason he hasn\u2019t. Nobody was ever asked.<\/p>\n As I reported Aug. 2<\/a>, the program started in 2022 as a 25-camera \u201ctest and evaluation\u201d giveaway from Flock, run through the Police Department under Welch\u2019s administration. No elected official voted on it. The words \u201cFlock\u201d and \u201cALPR\u201d do not appear in the 2022 or 2023 City Council minutes.<\/p>\n The paid contract came up in January 2024, a five-year, $730,250 deal to double the network to 50 cameras. It went on the consent agenda and passed with no questions from Council and no public comment.<\/p>\n Opposition has been building since. The Tampa Bay Times\u2019 Justin Garcia and Shreya Vuttaluru report<\/a> that about 120 people showed up to the first DeFlock St. Pete meeting at the Obama Main Library on Aug. 15. The room was full 10 minutes before it began.<\/p>\n The Times also surveyed 21 area law enforcement agencies. St. Pete police said about a third of the department\u2019s 567 officers can search a database covering 1,039 agencies nationwide. The department would not release its search logs, citing a security exemption in state law.<\/p>\n Other governments are backing away. Palm Bay has suspended its cameras. Pasco County is switching vendors. Leon County scrapped a $440,000 Flock purchase without a dissenting vote.<\/p>\n The issue has reached the Governor\u2019s race<\/a>, too. U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds has called for a \u201cfull pause\u201d on the cameras and said Florida \u201cwill not become a surveillance state.\u201d<\/p>\n The pushback isn\u2019t coming only from the other side of the ballot. Andy Oliver, the Allendale United Methodist pastor who was among Welch\u2019s most vocal allies in 2021, posted six arguments against the cameras<\/a> on Facebook last week, pointedly answering the Mayor\u2019s claim that he hasn\u2019t heard one. Oliver\u2019s list runs from the location records Flock keeps on people suspected of nothing to the risk that St. Pete\u2019s data ends up feeding federal immigration enforcement. \u201cIn a free society, \u2018Does this make it easier for police to solve crimes?\u2019 is the beginning of the conversation \u2014 not the end of it,\u201d Oliver wrote. As for the Mayor: \u201cI\u2019m not holding my breath waiting for Mayor Welch to start listening. Why would he start now?\u201d<\/p>\n In St. Pete, the next step comes Thursday. City Council Vice Chair Richie Floyd has put Flock on the Aug. 27 agenda and is asking for a referral to the Public Services and Infrastructure Committee to review the contract and how the cameras are used. It would be the first public discussion of the program since the cameras went up.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FL-Legislators-Digital-Banners-728x90_1.png\")
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