The St. Petersburg City Council is set to take its first public look Thursday at the city’s use of Flock Safety license plate cameras, as concerns over privacy and police surveillance spill into the mayoral election. Glades County also uses the technology, though on a much smaller scale, with the Sheriff’s Office operating four Flock license plate readers as of September 2025.
St. Petersburg has 50 Flock cameras that automatically read license plates and collect information about vehicles traveling on city roads. The cameras are designed to help police identify and locate vehicles connected to crimes or investigations.
The technology received little public attention in St. Petersburg until recently. According to Florida Politics, the city began with 25 cameras in 2022 as a test program. In 2024, the City Council approved a five-year, $730,250 contract that doubled the network to 50 cameras. The contract was placed on the consent agenda and passed without discussion or public comment.
Now, the cameras have emerged as an issue in the November mayoral runoff between former Gov. Charlie Crist and Mayor Ken Welch.
Crist, who finished first in last week’s primary with 35% of the vote, has called for a moratorium on expanding the program until the city has a clearer picture of how police use the cameras and their data.
Welch, who received 2o% in the primary, has defended the program. He said privacy protections are already in place and argued that the cameras help police track down people who pose a threat to public safety.
Public opposition has also grown. About 120 people attended a recent meeting organized by DeFlock St. Pete, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Other Florida governments have also reconsidered the technology. Palm Bay has suspended its cameras, while Leon County dropped a planned $440,000 Flock purchase.
On Thursday, Aug. 27, St. Petersburg City Council Vice Chair Richie Floyd is asking the council to send the issue to the Public Services and Infrastructure Committee for a review of the Flock contract and how the cameras are used. It would be the first public City Council discussion of the program since the cameras were installed.