Orange Park Set To Join Flock Surveillance Network

Council Will Vote On A Contract To Install Six Cameras

Photo by Mother Flocker on Unsplash

Orange Park is a small town that consistently punches above its weight in many ways. On Tuesday, the town is set to add A.I.-powered surveillance cameras to its already overly burdensome policing and regulations.

Item 7-d on the agenda for December 2nd is titled “Approval of Flock Cameras Purchase.” The purchase will total $39,000 for six cameras and various fees associated with Flock’s services. The Mayor of Orange Park will have the authority to renew or amend the agreement, per the contract.

The contract doesn’t specify where the cameras will be installed, but it does state that the contract will allow the Orange Park Police Department to access any and all data collected from nearby Flock installations (i.e., Clay County and Duval County’s Flock surveillance networks), as well as data from any Flock camera nationwide.

Clay News & Views is the first and only local news organization covering Flock’s sudden appearance in Clay County and subsequent growth. CNV is also the only local news source that Flock tried to intimidate with vague threats of legal action.

Surveillance Company Defends Clay Roadside Cameras

If approved, the flock cameras will add to the already burdensome policing practices in Orange Park. Red Light Cameras have been used by the town for years, despite little or no evidence that they make roadways safer. What the cameras have done is pour cash into the town's coffers, with over $1 million collected from July ‘24 through June ‘25.

Flock Safety has spent $690,000 lobbying the federal government, and untold sums more lobbying state and local law enforcement agencies. At the same time, community pushback and legal challenges are mounting in response to Flock’s technology and the data it collects.

In Colorado, citizens lobbied their government officials to ditch Flock after it was determined that data collected in the state was being shared with federal law enforcement agencies with little to no oversight. The uproar created enough negative press to force the CEO of Flock to do a rare interview with a local news station

Unfortunately for Clay County, Orange Park is not deterred by controversy elsewhere or the pesky 4th amendment of the Constitution. All indications behind the scenes point to the cameras being a done deal, just awaiting the official rubber stamp, as is the time-honored tradition here in Clay County.