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Pensacola residents urge council to halt Flock cameras and oppose proposed data centers
Summary
At the May 28 council meeting dozens of residents told the council that Flock license-plate cameras and a proposed AI/data center threaten privacy, divert opioid-settlement funds from treatment programs and risk environmental harm; council members acknowledged concerns and pointed to upcoming county review.
Dozens of Pensacola residents used the Leroy Boyd Forum on May 28 to press the City Council to stop use of the Flock license-plate camera contract and to oppose a proposed AI/data center under discussion at the county level.
"Flock is not a camera, it is a dragnet," resident Pepper Weimer told the council, saying the system "photographs every license plate in the city and builds a database of where we go." Weimer and several other speakers said opioid-abatement settlement dollars used to pay for the Flock contract should instead fund CORE and other addiction-treatment programs.
Other speakers expanded the concerns. Christie Rosen asked how many cases have been solved using Flock and urged the city to require "usage reports, audit logs, search statistics" and rules limiting which agencies can access the database. Alexandra Hatley said a $108,000 contract for cameras could instead keep CORE's services operating and called for cameras to be removed. Mary Husky warned about possible groundwater contamination connected to large data centers and urged prioritizing residents' health and safety.
Robert Vinson, a local attorney, raised national-security and ethical alarms about a data center described by others as a defense-AI facility. "Who owns that data center? We don't know because they've signed an NDA," he said, questioning the community benefit of a facility he said could contribute to automated targeting.
Defenders of data-center investment also spoke. Gabriel Garrett, during the second public forum, urged residents to "look beyond the headlines," argued some claims about water use are exaggerated and said data centers can bring technology-sector jobs.
Council members acknowledged the intensity of public concern. Councilman Bair said he opposed how opioid funds were used and urged the mayor to consider alternatives. Several speakers noted that the county — not the city — will consider formal development approvals; speakers encouraged turnout at the Escambia County Commission meeting scheduled for June 17.
Why it matters: Residents raised privacy, civil-liberty and environmental questions about surveillance and large-scale server farms while identifying a direct trade-off — they said opioid-settlement funds should be spent on recovery programs, not surveillance. The debate highlighted a split between community advocates who want audits, transparency and funding redirected to treatment and economic-development proponents who say properly sited data centers can be built without harm.
What happens next: Much of the data-center discussion will be considered at the county level; residents said they will attend the Escambia County Commission meeting on June 17 to press county officials and Florida West, the local economic development organization. The city council did not take formal action on the Flock contract or any data-center project at this meeting.
