Documented Incident
St. Johns County commissioners set Oct. 20 vote on allowing Flock cameras in county rights-of-way
Event: October 7, 2026 · First reported: October 7, 2026 · 3 sources
St. Johns County, Florida commissioners agreed to add the county's use of Flock Safety automatic license plate readers to their Oct. 20 agenda after another round of public comment on the cameras. Commissioner Christian Whitehurst requested the item, saying a roundtable with law enforcement that the board had agreed to on Sept. 15 never happened. The board will take public comment and discuss whether to permit the cameras on county rights-of-way. Sheriff Rob Hardwick has defended the system and wants the cameras to stay on county roads, while removing them from state rights-of-way under a state directive.
The vote would determine whether a county permits ALPR hardware on its own rights-of-way, a permitting lever local governments elsewhere could use to set terms for surveillance deployments. The debate also highlights unresolved questions about retention by a private vendor versus the contracting agency.
Key facts
- Commissioners scheduled the Flock discussion for Oct. 20 after a previously agreed law enforcement roundtable did not occur, according to Commissioner Christian Whitehurst.
- Resident Debra Campbell said her own records request showed her plate captured 154 times in 30 days, including 23 times in one afternoon, with 119 photos and 11 instances she said matched other vehicles to her plate; she said more than 1,000 people signed her petition.
- Campbell asserted that while the sheriff's office deletes records after 30 days, Flock Safety retains the data indefinitely.
- Sheriff Rob Hardwick cited 2026 figures including 29 stolen vehicles recovered, 35 wanted people arrested, 62 people charged and 35 missing people recovered, and said ALPR data is one lead among many.
- The sheriff's office said it shortened retention to 30 days, limited access, ended outside-agency sharing, and that roughly half of its approximately 182 cameras would be removed under the state directive without being relocated.
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- St. Johns County commission to debate Flock camera permits on county rights-of-ways on Oct. 20 (Headtopics, October 7, 2026)
- St. Johns County commission to debate Flock camera permits on county rights-of-ways on Oct. 20 (News4jax, October 7, 2026)
- St. Johns County commission to debate Flock camera permits on county rights-of-ways on Oct. 20 (News4JAX, October 7, 2026)
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About this record
BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.
Updated October 14, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.