Florida Yanks Flock Cameras; Texas Cuts Funding

DeSantis, a Republican, questioned what the devices are really recording. "These cameras that are out there now — who's to say they're only doing the license plate?" he said Friday. "I think it's capturing people in their cars. I think it's capturing way more information than they're letting on. And you've seen the abuse." Speaking in Jacksonville on Monday, he framed the fight as aiming police tools at criminals rather than citizens who have done nothing wrong, the Florida Phoenix reported.

Flock Safety called a ban the wrong reaction. "Flock's technology is an important public safety tool for law enforcement agencies across Florida, helping officers solve serious crimes, find missing people, recover stolen vehicles, and support safer communities," the company said. "In just the last few weeks in Florida, the technology was used to find missing children, led to the arrest of a murder suspect, and assisted in solving numerous other crimes." The company said it supports "thoughtful legislation and strong privacy, transparency, and accountability guardrails" instead of prohibition.

Sheriffs in Duval, Clay, Bradford and Volusia counties say the cameras helped them solve violent crimes and find missing people. Flock says its systems supported more than 1 million investigations and helped locate more than 10,000 missing persons in 2025.

In Pennsylvania, Treasurer Stacy Garrity, the Republican nominee for governor, called the cameras an "intrusive invasion of privacy" that should be "banned" in the commonwealth. Asked about them on a Philadelphia talk radio show Friday, Garrity first asked the host to "tell me what they are," the Washington Examiner reported, then called them "another example of government overreach." Shapiro, who noted that Pennsylvania State Police do not use the cameras, said: "I think law enforcement needs to have tools to keep communities safe. Flock cameras are not a tool that I support."