Residents press commissioners on Flock ALPR costs and privacy during budget hearing

Public comment at the Sept. 3 budget hearing focused heavily on automated license-plate readers (ALPR) and the county's relationship with the vendor Flock. Deborah Campbell, a St. Johns County resident, asked whether the $2.2 million reportedly spent on ALPRs will be refunded or reallocated and warned about predictive-analytics software and biometric tracking.

She told the board: "If this budget finds funds biometric tracking, what oversight exists to prevent the sheriff's office from auditing the daily movements of law abiding citizens without a warrant? None." Several other speakers echoed privacy and fiscal concerns, citing more than $2 million in expenses and roughly $4 million in invoices, orders and commitments discussed at an Aug. 18 meeting.

Sheriff Rob Hardwick responded that a total of about $908,000 was spent on license-plate reader technology and that a grant covered most of that amount, leaving roughly $481,000–$500,000 in the sheriff's current budget request for maintenance and software updates. He said an internal 100% audit of tag runs and usage is underway and staff will report back.

Speakers asked the commission whether the cameras were placed on county rights-of-way with board approval and whether the board can use its budgeting power to restrict deployments. Commissioners did not take an immediate policy action at the hearing; they proceeded with tentative budget adoption and scheduled the final hearing for Sept. 15.