(PENSACOLA) --- One resident challenged the incoming police chief to answer him on Flock, while another citizen noted the names of the dead indirectly due to ICE surveillance.
OpGov.ai and this reporter picked up on each resident's comments, filled with fear and anger, at Thursday's regularly scheduled Pensacola City Council meeting.
This is not the first time they have confronted officials; my last report garnered 2.5k hits.
"You've only heard maybe 1 or 2 mentioned in the news," Collin, who only offered his first name, said. "But more have been killed in detention facilities. Geraldo Lunas. Campos. Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres. Luis Beltran Yanez. Cruz. Peretti. Law. Victor. Manuel Diaz Herrera. Sanchez. Dominguez, Keith Porter, Rene Nicole Good, and Alex Preti have all been murdered by ICE in some capacity, whether it be a detention facility or in our streets."
He continued.
"I bring up these points because there has been an uptick in ICE presence in the city of Pensacola," Colin said. "We keep tabs on social media, and I feel like I get more and more pings during the week that there has been an ice sighting here or there or wherever around town. And I refuse to let citizens be added to that list who live in our city/"
As you read, the photos and the OpGov.ai platform's summary of each citizen reveal all the aforementioned.
This is not opinion readers, these are scared citizens, your neighbors who are standing up for your privacy rights.
Something to consider as you read on.
Pepper Wymer demanded the Pensacola Police Department end its contract with Flock cameras, which are AI-powered surveillance systems that track daily movements and store data, acting as privatized surveillance without warrants, according to the platform, adding Wymer highlighted concerns about erroneous tracking, data sharing with ICE, and violations of due process, stating the community did not ask for this level of surveillance.
Sarah Brummett urged the city to terminate its contract with Flock, calling it mass-surveillance technology implemented without public knowledge or consent, according to the platform. She added that the movement against Flock unites a wide range of constituents across all political ideologies, making their demands for privacy and civil liberties undeniable.
She emphasized that the community does not want to live in a police state and will continue to mobilize until action is taken.
Jansen Brummett demanded that the city end the Flock contract, asserting that extensive community outreach has not yielded a single person who supports the system, according to OpGov.ai.
Additionally, Brummett challenged council members to provide evidence of constituents who support the contract and urged them to act in the community's best interest, noting that other cities have terminated their contracts.
Hueso Alfonso demanded the termination of the Pensacola Police Department's contract with Flock, challenging Councilman Jared Moore's previous 'ideologue' comment.
However, Moore made it known that is not what he meant.
"I was speaking about my own thinking," Moore said. "So the sunshine laws correlate to the people making the vote to the very thoughts that justify their conclusion."
He went on.
"So if there was some ambiguity there, I just want to clarify. that I don't have any disparaging thing to say, but you coming down to speak," Moore said. "You brought my name in there. I just wanted to clear that up. Hope it's clear. If not, we can catch up offline."
Alfonso brought up with Flock, there is no justification for each search.
"And so there have been cases of police chiefs using this to stalk their ex-girlfriends, to stalk their their ex-wives," Alfonso said. "Is that what we want in the city?
Alexandra Hatley expressed concern about Flock cameras (18 in the city, 30 in the county) and demanded the city and PPD end the contract, according to the platform, adding Hatley cited instances of 'terror' by ICE/CBP in other cities, including murders and brutalization, enabled by such technology.
Hatley warned that Flock data, collected with tax dollars, can be bought by third parties, used to track women seeking abortions, and by law enforcement to stalk ex-girlfriends. Criticized the lack of transparency regarding Flock camera locations compared to red light cameras.
Honor Bell argued that community safety stems from people and resources, not police or technology, criticizing Flock as a 'shortcut' bypassing true community investment, the platform reports, adding that Bell stated that the council has mishandled investments, prioritizing big donors over the working class, and has proven unworthy of public trust due to lack of transparency and initial public consultation.
Like the others, Bell demanded "real reconciliation," starting with the termination of the Flock contract.
Four additional speakers, as shown above, also approached the podium, pleading their case, as noted by the OpGov.ai platform.
Needless to say, this will not be the last report, with residents promising to return at the next meeting and demanding that the contract end.
Till then, consider that Flock camera surveillance cameras are in the business of buying and selling any data they pick up from your license plate. If you don't believe that, come to the next meeting and ask any one of the residents you just read about.
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