(ESCAMBIA COUNTY, F.L.) --- Escambia County privacy advocates told the Board of County Commissioners and the Pensacola City Council on Sept. 10 that suspending Flock license plate reader cameras isn’t enough.
They want them removed.
Jacob Rockwell, a dedicated anti-surveillance advocate, spoke at both meetings, which were held the same night at the same time. He thanked Sheriff Chip Simmons and Pensacola Police Chief Eric Winstrom for pausing the program.
To Chief Winstrom, he said, "I want to thank you for suspending the Flock cameras, upholding our rights and all that. I know it wasn't an easy decision for you to make."
But Rockwell said a pause misses the point. He asked both the city and the county to take the cameras down entirely.
“There is absolutely nothing targeted, justified, or limited about 20 billion flock scans a month,” Rockwell said. “No guardrail, no audit log, no case number box an officer types into a screen is ever going to satisfy the constitutional incongruity of mass surveillance on the citizenry.”
Rockwell argued the problem isn’t oversight; it’s the technology itself. He said the county and city should act now before the program resumes. “Act before it’s too late and clean this dystopian garbage off our streets while you can,” Rockwell told officials.
Rockwell was not the only resident caught between the two meetings. Several speakers missed their chance to comment on a data center item at the BOCC because they were trying to attend both the county and city meetings.
For now, the Flock cameras remain in limbo in Escambia County and the City of Pensacola; suspended by law enforcement, but not yet removed.
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