A 77-year-old Florida man has found a clever, non-destructive way to protest the license plate readers popping up on his street, and honestly, it’s the kind of ingenuity we can appreciate. Carl Gunn, a St. Petersburg resident, didn’t reach for spray paint or a power drill like so many others have lately. Instead, he grabbed a 12-foot pool skimmer pole, taped a sign to the end reading “DOWN WITH FLOCK CAMERAS,” and set up a lawn chair right next to one of the cameras in his neighborhood.
Video of Gunn’s one-man protest shows him lounging comfortably, sign in one hand and an umbrella in the other, patiently blocking the camera’s view for hours at a time. It’s a simple setup, but there’s something almost poetic about using a pool accessory to fight back against a surveillance network. No property damage, no vandalism charges to worry about, just a guy and his very long pole standing between a camera and the cars driving by.
Gunn told a local Tampa Bay paper that his issue comes down to consent and profit. He pointed out that Flock Safety, the company behind these automatic license plate readers, is collecting data on everyday drivers without permission and turning a profit doing it. His logic is pretty simple: if they’re going to use the airspace above public roads to make money, he’d like his cut too. He’s staged at least two of these protests so far at different camera locations around town.
During one of his demonstrations, two police cruisers showed up, prompting a passerby to stop and film the whole thing, shouting support for Gunn and frustration at the officers for what he saw as protecting the cameras instead of the neighborhood. Despite social media claims that Gunn was arrested, no court record for him turns up in Pinellas County’s system, reported Futurism.
So it looks like his protest sign lived to fight another day.
Flock Cameras Are Everywhere, and So Is the Pushback
Flock’s automatic license plate readers now number close to 100,000 across the country, scanning and logging plates as vehicles pass by, often without a warrant. That scale has made the company a lightning rod, and Gunn is far from the only one pushing back.
People across the country have tried everything from trash bags over the lenses to laser pointers and even power tools to disable the cameras, though those methods tend to come with legal consequences attached.
Police Departments Are Often the Ones Defending Flock
Whenever a Flock controversy pops up, it’s frequently local police departments stepping in to defend the technology, since many rely on the camera network for investigations.
But that same access has led to documented misuse, including cases where officers reportedly used the system to track people for personal reasons rather than official police work, with incidents cropping up in states from Georgia to Illinois.
Our Take
There’s something refreshing about a protest that doesn’t involve bolt cutters or a criminal record. Gunn’s pool skimmer approach is a reminder that you don’t need to break anything to make a point, sometimes just showing up with a sign and a lawn chair does the trick.
Whether one guy with a very long pole changes how Flock cameras get used nationwide is doubtful, but it’s the kind of small-town story that makes you smile and maybe rethink who’s really watching who on your daily commute.