Residents press Lynn Haven leaders for clearer rules, audits on Flock license-plate readers

Residents pressed the Lynn Haven City Commission on the city's use of Flock license-plate readers and the transparency portal during a town hall meeting.

David Sweitzer, who has tracked the cameras since 2020, said the city "missed the boat on transparency from the start" and urged clearer public information about how the system is used. "It's kind of a poop storm, but it's something we got to get through," he said, describing both the benefits and privacy risks of automated license-plate readers.

Commissioners acknowledged gaps in public disclosure. One commissioner who opposed the original deployment listed specific changes she wants to see in the portal: shorten the 30-day retention period to two minutes for open access, limit the number of cameras or remove portable units, reduce hotlist retention from three years to one, require searchable records to show unique hits rather than aggregate counts, and publish counts of city searches and photos taken.

Officials explained technical and operational constraints. Staff said some audit fields appear blank on the public portal but are present in police audit logs, and that technical outages can cause missing entries to momentarily appear incomplete on the public site. A city official said the police chief is preparing policy updates and that monthly audits are being considered to strengthen oversight.

Several residents asked that the new police chief present the portal and policies in a public workshop so citizens can hear the same technical details and assurances at once rather than relying on single-person briefings. Commissioners said they would accommodate a public workshop on request.

The exchange at the town hall also widened into a larger discussion of privacy and legal context. Speakers referenced recent court rulings and the pace of technological change, noting that policy and oversight must balance public-safety benefits with civil-liberty concerns.

The commission did not take a formal vote on changes at the town hall; leaders said policy updates and audit procedures are under review and encouraged citizens to request a focused workshop with the police chief for detailed answers.