Thursday morning Tampa City Council will be voting on a a request from the Tampa Police Department to approve a piggyback agreement with RedSpeed through an existing contract with Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office. The cameras are currently in use within the county. RedSpeed touted in their proposal to the county their Flock integration, “Integrated Flock means RedSpeed’s cameras are feeding the Wing System for enforcement synergy. “

Soon after Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law allowing speed cameras in school zones, Tampa City Council member Luis Viera motioned for the city to explore adding cameras. A study was conducted with the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization to identify the most problematic schools in regard to speeding and student pedestrian safety. That resulted in Ordinance No. 2024-3 approved by council 5-1 with Council member Alan Clendenin voting no and Council member Gwen Henderson absent at vote. A subsequent Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued and a company selected. Council approved the contract at their August 1, 2024 meeting. In December of 2025 the contract was mutually terminated.

Council and the public were made aware there were issues with the contract when Chief Financial Officer Dennis Rogero noted during a presentation the anticipated revenue from the cameras would not be realized this fiscal year. During an earlier budget presentation $15 million in revenue from the cameras was discussed.

RedSpeed scored third among the proposals, 12 points behind the winning proposal from Verra Mobility that was unable to be met and 5 points behind the second place proposal from NovoaGlobal Inc. There is no indication in the backup materials why the 3rd place proposal was chosen.

Front and center in RedSpeed’s proposal to Hillsborough County is their included integration with Flock.

HD Video enforcement provides another unique advantage: ONLY RedSpeed can offer integration with Flock. We have enclosed a letter from Flock confirming this fact. We have collaborated closely with Flock to optimize interoperability, and our intuitive software is already in use across the state. We have successfully integrated over 100 Flock systems in current installations; our competitors have integrated zero Flock systems. Only RedSpeed offers this direct integration, and Flock is included in the RedSpeed price.

Additionally in their proposal they note “RedSpeed provides the ability to live stream video from all cameras.” Section 316.1896, Florida Statutes states “a speed detection system in a school zone may not be used for remote surveillance.” Tampa’s ordinance explicitly notes that stipulation. RedSpeed’s proposal emphasizes “RedSpeed provides Flock ALPR at all locations, included in the RedSpeed Price.” The accompanying letter from Flock states “In order for the two systems to work together, RedSpeed will provide Flock with RTSP streams for the given cameras…The camera is then plotted on the Flock Safety map in the application to appropriately locate where the cameras are.”

Flock was most recently in the news amid a backlash over a Ring video doorbell Super Bowl ad in which Ring canceled their planned partnership with Flock. The concerns can be summed up by the study from the University of Washington Center for Human Rights “Leaving the Door Wide Open: Flock Surveillance Systems Expose Washington Data to Immigration Enforcement.” As the Tampa Monitor reported last September when TPD signed a contract with Flock Tampa Chief of Police Bercaw signed a 287(g) agreement with ICE on behalf of the city of Tampa February 26, 2025.

Before their unanimous vote to approve the Flock contract, several council members noted they spoke with the Chief and were assured the data wouldn’t be inappropriately shared.

Council member Lynn Hurtak said “that the only time they are allowed to use this technology
Is to share it with other agencies when they have an open case.”

Council member Viera shared “Obviously I called up Chief Bercaw and spoke to him about it. I’m fully satisfied with that. Obviously given the allegations of potential with what’s happening on the federal level with immigration, something that really breaks my heart, moves my heart, makes me very angry over the xenophobia, prejudice, bigotry and racism i’m seeing out there, I’m very satisfied. Given that, I’m very satisfied with his answer.”

If ICE is a cooperating agency and they claim to have an “open case”, is that a legitimate defense for sharing the data? If the cameras are part of a network that other agencies could potentially tap into, who really has control over the data sharing? These are questions that go well beyond “immigration enforcement”, especially when it’s part of a revenue generating model. These are not “dumb” cameras that are only checking for speeding during school hours.

The Tampa Monitor is not aware of any evidence TPD or HCSO have shared data or information with ICE.

The FY26 operating budget for Tampa Police Department is 221 million dollars.