No more flock cameras in Walton County

[Ron]

The county commissioners voted 5 to 0 to remove the license-plate reading technology on all county rights-of-way.

The decision effectively ends the use of the automated cameras across the county.

Supporters say the system is a key tool for law enforcement — helping track down stolen vehicles and wanted suspects.

But critics have raised privacy concerns — and commissioners voted to end their use in Walton County.

 

[Ron]

The Walton County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 to remove Flock license-plate reading cameras from all county-owned and maintained rights-of-way.

While the vote restricts the technology on county-managed roads, the decision does not completely eliminate Flock cameras across the area. The automated cameras will remain active in several key locations that do not fall under county jurisdiction:

- Private Communities

- Municipalities

- State Highways

Supporters say the system is a key tool for law enforcement — helping track down stolen vehicles and wanted suspects.

But critics have raised privacy concerns, commissioners voted to end their use in certain areas of Walton County.

Commissioner Dan Curry said the cameras will be taken down as soon as the county’s legal team has the verbiage written up.

 

[Ron]

Sheriff Mike Adkinson is concerned there's a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to Flock and license plate readers.

"I'm not very comfortable with those cameras and conducting basically surveillance on our citizens," Walton County commissioner Danny Glidewell said.

Glidewell supported the motion. He says the sheriff's office installed the cameras in the county, and it's on the sheriff's office to take them down.

WEAR: What do you say to the law enforcement and people who do want this around?
Glidewell: I was a law enforcement officer for a long time. And I would say we did the job 200 years without those things. And I think we continue to do the job.
Commissioners say there's about 106 Flock cameras in plain sight throughout the area. About 60 of those are on county right-of-ways. It's these license plate readers that will have to come down.

Any Flock cameras on state roads and private properties will stay put.

Last week, Sheriff Adkinson took to Facebook live for a Q&A and set the record straight on Flock.

“I was one of the last people in the Panhandle to allow it, to allow them to be used here because I thought they tracked people every time they drove down the road, which wasn’t true," said Adkinson.

Adkinson calls himself a “privacy advocate." He says the effectiveness of Flock cameras for crimes is undeniable.

"I can give you a list of hundreds, hundreds of arrests and cases that have been solved because of it," Adkinson said. "That is just a camera. What you do with it is what we need to put really strict guidelines on."

Adkinson says whether you're a cop or not, misusing a Flock camera is a crime. The sheriff's office has not been given a deadline for taking cameras down on county right-of-ways.