Photo by Cameron Healy
Updated Sept. 29, 3:09 p.m.
An earlier version of this article did not provide context for a quote from Ward III Councilmember Jennifer Webb regarding a $250,000 Flock contract. The article has been updated to include that context.
The Gabber Newspaper regrets the error.
After lengthy debate at the Sept. 15 regular meeting, Gulfport City Council voted 3-2 to remove $9,000 in funding for the City’s Flock license-plate-reading cameras from its fiscal year 2027 budget.
Vice Mayor Marlene Shaw moved to remove Flock camera funding from the budget. Ward III Councilmember Jennifer Webb seconded the motion and raised concerns about privacy, data ownership, and security.
The amendment passed 3-2, removing $9,000 in Flock camera funding from the budget. Shaw, Webb, and Ward IV Councilmember Nancy Earley voted in favor of the amendment. Mayor Karen Love and Ward I Councilmember Jennifer Daunch voted against it.
The council then unanimously approved Ordinance 2026-10, the fiscal year 2027 budget, after the amendment removing the Flock funding passed.
The vote followed a discussion at Council’s Sept. 3 meeting, when members weighed the cost, privacy, and data ownership of the cameras against their crime-solving value. Council did not take a separate vote on the system at that meeting.
Privacy and Data Ownership Concerns
Webb had questioned at the Sept. 3 meeting whether the City should continue investing in the system while cutting other services. She also raised concerns about data ownership and whether future changes in law or policy could limit how Gulfport uses the cameras.
“Right now, Flock owns the data, and we don’t own the data,” Webb said at the Sept. 3 meeting.
On Sept. 15, Webb argued that Gulfport’s relatively small contract was unlikely to persuade Flock to change its practices. She cited what she described as a $250,000 contract that the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office had declined amid concerns about the system. Gulfport officials said the City’s six cameras cost $18,000 annually, with $9,000 due for renewal in fiscal year 2027.
“They were willing to let go of a $250,000 contract. I don’t think that a $25,000 contract is going to sway them to change their practices,” Webb said.
Several residents also raised concerns about privacy, artificial intelligence and how information collected by the cameras could be used.
[Read more below]
That’s not all that happened at the Sept. 15 Gulfport City Council meeting. Read about budget discussions, and other approvals.
Police Defend Cameras
At the Sept. 3 meeting, Gulfport Chief of Police Mary Farrand defended the cameras as a crime-solving tool. She said the system automates license-plate checks officers already perform from patrol cars and has helped in investigations involving missing persons, human trafficking, and serious crimes.
Farrand also argued that the readers are less intrusive than conventional surveillance cameras because they capture vehicle information rather than continuously recording public spaces.
“There are a few bad apples who have used the technology in a negative way,” Farrand said, adding that she didn’t want those people on her force.
Contract Renewal Prompts Discussion
Shaw said one of Gulfport’s Flock contracts was up for renewal shortly.
At the Sept. 3 meeting, Farrand explained that the City’s six Flock cameras cost $18,000 annually: three cameras cost $9,000, and the other three cost another $9,000. The two contracts renew at different times; the three-camera contract comes due in October 2026, while the other remains in effect until 2027. The $9,000 due in October 2026 was the amount included in the fiscal year 2027 budget and addressed by the Sept. 15 vote.
Members also discussed a three-year contract and provisions allowing the City to cancel its agreements.
Mayor Karen Love asked whether Gulfport could use upcoming contract negotiations to seek additional controls from Flock.
“One of my questions would be,” Love said, “with so many areas canceling theirs, would we not be in a better position to negotiate on the contract for the three cameras when it comes to October sometime? Would we not be in a better position to negotiate some controls of our own?”
Ward I Councilmember Jennifer Daunch questioned what cutting the funding would mean for the City’s existing contracts.
“I don’t want to waste money that I spent. I don’t want to spend money that I’m going to waste,” Daunch said.
The next Gulfport City Council meeting is Oct. 6 at 6 p.m.
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