St. Johns County Special BCC Meeting / Budget Hearing Livestream
The short version: St. Johns County's FY2027 budget hearing is a reminder that ALPR contracts and surveillance spending often get rubber-stamped in dry budget meetings few residents watch.
Our Take
Credit to St. Johns County's own channel for streaming this one live and in full — that kind of transparency is rare and worth acknowledging. But budget hearings like this are exactly where mass surveillance infrastructure quietly gets funded year after year. Line items for "public safety technology" or "law enforcement equipment" can hide six- and seven-figure ALPR contracts with vendors like Flock Safety, and unless a commissioner or a resident asks a pointed question, they sail through without debate.
We don't know yet whether this particular budget includes new or renewed camera funding — that's exactly the kind of detail that gets buried in a 100-plus page document nobody outside the building reads closely. That's why hearings like this matter more than they look: they're the last real chokepoint before a sheriff's office or county government locks in another year of automated tracking of everyone who drives through St. Johns County.
If you live in the area, check our camera map to see what's already deployed near you, and use our take-action resources to figure out how to ask your commissioners the questions that don't get asked on stream.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of St. Johns County, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.