(PENSACOLA) --- For seven months, residents have come to the Pensacola City Council with two complaints that keep colliding.
One: $108,000 in opioid settlement money was spent on Flock cameras.
Two: No one voted on it.
Both came up again at the last meeting on July 16, but this time it was different. By the end of the night, council voted 7-0 to fix the second problem. Every future opioid settlement dollar will now come back to council for approval rather than go to Mayor D.C. Reeves. Reeves' use of the litigation settlement funds to purchase a Flock contract has been a point of contention since the beginning of the year, with protesters raising the move at every meeting since January.
Girasol Alfonso continually repeats the concern.
"Escambia County is the number one county in Florida that has the most opioid deaths per capita,” Alfonso said. “Our mayor, D.C. Reeves, used money that was supposed to go to help these opioid victims to fund this Flock contract.
Vice President Jennifer Brahier sponsored the new ordinance, noting the litigation funds come from loss.
(Photo: Councilwoman Jennifer Brahier at the July 16 meeting)
"This money is encumbered by the grief that a family has had,” Brahier said.
Brahier said she sponsored it to ensure the money would be used in a way that would be meaningful to victims. Sarah Blankenship agrees, also noting the money was diverted from people who need treatment.
"The $108,000 he used for the mass surveillance of the residents of Pensacola took money away from the people," Blankenship said.
Brooke Whitehurst asked for it back.
"We need to cancel the Flock contract, and the mayor needs to reimburse the opioid abatement fund with all of the money he used for the contract," Whitehurst said.
(Photo: Sarah Blanckenship shares her concerns over the Opioid Litigation Settlement and Flock surveillance funds)
Councilman Charles Bare agreed it didn't fit.
"The stretch to use opioid funds for Flock cameras reminds me of that stretch Armstrong I had when I was a kid," Bare said. “I would never have thought that opioid funds would be used for such a purpose."
Unlike before, the local ordinance now puts all opioid litigation funds in one account that requires every single expenditure to come back to the council.
Braheir said, "There has been no facility for youth under 18."
"The closest was $2,000 a day," Brahier said. "There was no hope for rehabilitation for a young person."
Bare agreed.
"All opioid funds received by the city must be appropriated by city council via supplemental budget resolution.” Bare added, “What this does is just preserve the public's ability to see it."
Larry Downs Jr. said that is exactly why council should control it.
"It's best for y'all to allocate these funds, not for the mayor to do it," Downs Jr. said. So that the people have an opportunity to come up here and speak."
Declan McGurk gave the names of two deceased individuals, which he indirectly relates to Flock surveillance.
"A man named Lorenzo was killed on July 10 in Houston, and a man named Juan was killed on July 13 in Bidford, Maine,” McGurk said. "Both of these people were murdered by ICE, and the Flock cameras had an integral role in both of their murders."
(Photo: Declan McGurk connects Flock surveillance to ICE deaths)
Lucas Pallone read arrests and headlines from other states.
"July 7, Fox 5 Atlanta published a story on five officers in Albany, Georgia, who were arrested after an audit of their Flock searches.” Pallone read. “July 8, a Greene County deputy was arrested for misusing license plate readers.”
Jacob Rockwell was one of the last to comment.
"The government becomes a bunch of peeping toms, using Flock cameras to dragnet massive amounts of location data from its citizens without their consent," Rockwell said.
The council also clarified there is already an Opioid Abatement Committee that reviews applications. This new rule does not replace it; it adds another layer. Every expenditure, even ones outside that committee, will need a council vote and a supplemental budget resolution.
While the vote was 7-0, Councilman Jared Moore pushed back on calling the Flock purchase illegal.
"If funds were inappropriately allocated, there are regulatory agencies that would be taking action,” Moore said.
Residents say they’ll continue to show up until the Flock contract is canceled.
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