(PENSACOLA) --- Mayor D.C. Reeves ignores returning citizens who fear FLOCK week after week, until last Thursday, when Councilman Charles Bare confronted him.
He could not avoid eye contact as usual, when Bare, the first official to raise concerns after two months of citizens' concerns, at the March 12 meeting. Reeves alone used misappropriated funds without the council's approval to purchase the contract.
(Photo: Mayor D.C. Reeves getting reamed out at Thursday night's meeting)
Last week, the same passionate people fighting for their privacy approached Reeves with hard facts about the FLOCK funding source, which comes from opioid settlement funds and raises data privacy concerns.
As usual, and with frightening accuracy, my AI-assisted platform ceases to amaze me. It reports, "Citizens and Councilman Charles Bare explicitly challenged the legality and appropriateness of using opioid abatement funds for surveillance and questioned the company's data usage rights."
That they did.
Chanson Brummet and his wife, Sarah, faithfully attend each council meeting, fighting for their rights. Last week, Chanson Brummet made sure Reeves looked at him when he called out the mayor for gaslighting.
(Photo: Chanson Brummet letting Mayor D.C. Reeves know his approval of FLOCK contract was possibly illegal)
"Last week we were told by the mayor's staff, in perfect DC fashion, that we were confused about the flow of money," Brummet said. "We always hear how confused we are and how much we don't know how, how we are just confused about the situation."
Though he did not raise his voice, Councilman Bare made it clear that Reeves knew approving the contract without council approval was not cool.
"I'm concerned about several things in here, especially data use and licensing," Bare said, adding he researched the contract thoroughly and remains waiting for Reeves to answer questions he has posed.
"It says FLOCK does not own and shall not sell us customer data, but they can use it for some things," Bare said. "It goes further for customer-generated data and says the customer understands and acknowledges that Flock has no obligation to monitor and enforce the customer's intellectual property rights of customer-generated data."
Bare also noted that the new Police Chief, Eric Winstrom, appointed by Reeves, used FLOCK in his last administration.
"The mayor responded, saying there's some information I could not get asked for," Bare said. "Whatever information could be provided, I had not gotten there yet."
Bare also felt duped.
"I know when we got the red-light cams that that was mentioned, I don't think I knew we'd be part of a global system or US-wide system of FLOCK cameras," Bare said.
One wonders whether Sheriff Chip Simmons knew and, if so, whether he even cares. According to Simmons, there is no reason to fear FLOCK, nor ICE.
Bottom line, Bare is the first councilmember to stand up to Reeves regarding the misappropriation of funds.
(Councilman Charles Bare is the first councilmember to stand up to Mayor D.C. Reeves regarding the FLOCK contract)
"I also think this was not a good expenditure of opioid funds," Bare said, adding it's a stretch. "I mean, it's probably legal, but you know, if you look at what the opioid funds were for, I don't think it was for this purpose."
As a matter of fact, that is one of the unanswered questions.
"I don't know exactly what we use it for, which was one of my questions," Bare said. "What are the current uses for flock cameras in the City of Pensacola?"
Bare ended, saying he thinks "it was money that we shouldn't have spent there."
"I think there are many better things we could have done with that money, opioid settlement funds," Bare said.
Bare also had a solution, suggesting Pensacola provide its own surveillance.
"I don't have any idea how much it would cost if we purchased our own cameras and kept the data, just to us," Bare said. "I'm sure of a much more than the 50 for whatever the thousand dollars we're paying a year to Flock."
A private system would be more secure, according to Bare, noting "we would manage the data, and we could decide what we wanted to do with it."
Pepper McQuiffins praised Bare for being bold.
(Photo: Pepper McQuiffins commending Councilman Charles Bare for standing up to Mayor D.C. Reeves)
"I just came up to say thank you to Councilman Bare," McQuiffins, a regular FLOCK protestor. "I really appreciate seeing somebody actually speak truth to power, and I'd like to see more people like you."
Pepper said she hopes Bare will remain bold and work with the residents.
"Thank you very much for showing actual transparency," McQuiffins said. To publicly protest the current FLOCK contract, either sign the petition or take to the podium at the next Pensacola Council meeting on Thursday, March 26.
McQuiffins, a member of Denfensa Gulf Coast, is circulating a petition protesting the current FLOCK contract.
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