Tampa Bay
What exactly is Flock, and why are people making such a big deal about it?
Hillsborough is home. The Fourth Amendment is not optional. This is more than a camera system. Flock Safety is a nationwide searchable network. Each hit is a vehicle record. Some customers also get an AI search tool. It is not a neighborhood pole that stays in a locked city drawer.
- ~120,000 cameras, 49 states, ~7,000 agencies, as reported by the New York Times, 10 Aug 2026 and contemporaneous Business Insider coverage. Those are vendor and press figures, not a Hillsborough inventory.
- Each hit is a vehicle record: plate image, vehicle image, make, color, time, and camera location. "Vehicle fingerprint" is Flock's term for extra visual marks. Flock's public LPR policy does not describe a named file on every person.
- Network sharing is an agency setting. A local pole is not a locked city drawer. Who Plant City, Tampa PD, HCSO, or St. Pete share with is a public-record question.
- Hotlists. Flock's LPR policy (30 Jun 2026) describes matches against NCIC, missing-person lists, and "other database or hot list." Which lists a local agency enables is a records question.
- OS Investigate (was Nightshift): WIRED, 19 Aug 2026 reconstructed code that searches people and vehicles by movement, with no plate, name, or crime required. It can pull case files, 911 logs, and commercial identity records. Flock did not dispute those capabilities. Flock says the tool is separate from the LPR product.
How long a scan lasts
Think of one drive-by as one file. The company's current default (announced 13 Aug 2026) is to delete that file after 7 days.
A later drive-by is a different file with its own 7-day clock. Wednesday does not keep Tuesday's photo. Wednesday also does not erase Wednesday's photo just because Tuesday's time ran out.
If you keep driving past cameras, new files keep appearing. The 7-day rule does not mean the network forgets you as a person. It means each unsaved scan is supposed to drop off after a week.
Agencies can choose a longer window than 7 days. Existing customers keep the window they already approved unless they switch. A saved hit (Evidence Mode) and search or audit logs sit on a different schedule. Plant City, TPD, and HCSO configured days are not published on this site. § 316.0778 tells DOS and FDLE to set a maximum schedule. The statute itself does not say 90 days or three years. Agencies quote GS2 Item 217 as a maximum of three anniversary years. Florida is not a 90-day ALPR state. Brand pages: ALPRs.
DeFlock Tampa is a local civic campaign. It is not legal advice, not a call to interfere with cameras, and not affiliated with Flock Safety.
If the system were ordinary and safe, cities would notice a town hall and put the vendor in the chair. They have not. That is not only a Plant City point. If it is so safe, why is it quiet?
This stretch
August 2026
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- 24 Mon Plant City 6:00 PM (Flock presentation) · Zephyrhills 6:00 PM (not a Flock hearing)
- 25 Tue Pasco BOCC 10:00 AM, New Port Richey
- 26 Wed Tampa remote comment cutoff 9:00 AM
- 27 Thu Tampa 9:00 AM regular · St. Pete 1:30 PM Flock referral
- 2 Sep Hillsborough BOCC (no Flock title verified)
Plant City: Monday (primary)
24 Aug 2026 · 6:00 PM
City Commission, Nettie Berry Draughon Municipal Building, 302 W Reynolds St. Item 26-388 Flock Camera Presentation under City Manager reports: a presentation, not a vote. Public comment is item 3, three minutes, name + street address. Doors 5:30 PM, north lot only. Same-day 3:30 PM special is budget item 26-383, not Flock.
Full Plant City page: roster, votes, asks →
Zephyrhills: Monday
24 Aug 2026 · 6:00 PM
East Pasco. City Council, Council Chambers, City Hall, 5335 8th Street, Zephyrhills, FL 33542. Posted public-hearing items are land-development and utility/sanitation rate ordinances. They are not Flock. Same building earlier: Budget Workshop 4:00 PM, CRA 5:00 PM. This page does not invent a Flock comment window or a time limit. If the city allows general public comment, you can still speak. The night before the Pasco BOCC.
Pasco page (Zephyrhills block) → · City calendar
Pasco BOCC: Tuesday
25 Aug 2026 · 10:00 AM
Pasco Board of County Commissioners, West Pasco Government Center Boardroom, 1st Floor, 8731 Citizens Drive, New Port Richey. The Aug 11 Flock discussion was pushed; this page does not treat 8/25 as a titled Flock item. Confirm the posted packet. Public comment still exists in person or virtually (pre-register by 4:00 PM Monday 24 Aug).
Full Pasco page →
St. Pete: Thursday (secondary)
27 Aug 2026 · 1:30 PM
Vice Chair Richie Floyd, New Business G-1: referral to Public Services and Infrastructure (or other relevant committee) on the City’s Flock Safety contract and camera use. Official packet: 1:30 PM, Council Chambers, City Hall, 175 5th St N. Open Forum: three minutes, name and address; residents, property owners, business owners, or their employees. A 5:01 PM public hearing the same day is utility rates, not Flock.
Full St. Pete page →
Tampa: Thursday morning
27 Aug 2026 · 9:00 AM
City Council regular, Old City Hall, 315 E. Kennedy Blvd. Official city post. Watch at tampa.gov/livestream or Spectrum 640 / Frontier 15. Agenda: tampa.gov/CityCouncil. Remote public comment must be registered by 9:00 AM Wednesday 26 Aug at tampa.gov/PublicComment. Same day as St. Pete's 1:30 PM Flock referral. No Flock title verified on this Tampa agenda. Hillsborough BOCC 2 Sep is also not a verified Flock hearing.
Tampa page →
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Plant City
Votes 2024 and 2025, Monday’s presentation, roster, and four on-the-record asks.
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Tampa
TPD contract line, HCSO Atlas note, RedSpeed is a separate vendor, next meetings marked unknown for Flock.
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St. Petersburg
Floyd referral, 50 cameras, 2024 consent vote as reported, mayor-race claims, DeFlock St. Pete contact.
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Pasco
All of Pasco: Zephyrhills Mon 6:00 PM, BOCC Tue 10:00 AM in New Port Richey. Sheriff Flock and Axon, NPR RedSpeed plans, Port Richey none.
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Any Florida town
If your city or county needs a page, ask. We will write one from clerk records, not from a rumor.
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Wins
Legal outcomes only: grant denials, staff suspensions, contract votes. How it was done in public process.
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Violations
Official findings, public-record logs, and filed cases. Allegations stay labeled. Norfolk is not listed as a win in court.
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ALPRs
What a plate reader is, how long a scan lasts, Florida records, and the brand pages (Flock, Axon, Vigilant, RedSpeed).
03
Florida records, not FOIA
Florida public records are Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, and Article I, section 24 of the Florida Constitution, not the federal FOIA. Ask for contracts, invoices, sharing settings, audit policies, and staff reports.
s. 316.0777, F.S. makes confidential and exempt: (a) images and data containing or providing personal identifying information obtained through an ALPR; and (b) personal identifying information of an individual in data generated from those images. Do not expect plate images or owner PII in a 119 release. Contracts and dollar figures are a different request.
Speak civilly. Stay on the record. This site does not advise anyone to touch, block, disable, or approach a camera.
Statute text: Florida Senate, s. 316.0777 (2025); Chapter 119; Fla. House staff analysis of § 316.0778 / R. 1B-24.003.