Don’t let those partisan primaries fool you. DeSantis has earned HUGE street cred with his applied Conservatism and flipping a purple state firmly red. Now he’s wading into the Flock Camera debate.
There’s no question that safety and security arguments can be made in support of flock cameras. But those same arguments could be made about all kinds of nanny-state options. The better question is how those benefits stack up against the risks.
What do those risks look like?
Here’s Ron DeSantis reminding us all about a period of recent history where the public’s very urgent ‘safety concerns’ were used as a cudgel to beat the living hell out of our rights… with the cherry on top being the government’s approval, (and their monopoly on force).
🚨 GOV. DESANTIS: “If we had [Flock cameras] around the country when COVID happened, you absolutely would have saw those turned on people who were outside of lockdown orders … Oh, you didn't take your vax? You can't go here.” pic.twitter.com/86YwwGkTaZ
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) September 1, 2026
Imagine for a moment how the flock cameras would have been used when we were told it was ok to visit a strip club or liquor store, but not to show up to Church on Sunday? When Gavin Newsom would take time out of his hobnobbing with the politically connected at the French Laundry to make sure skate parks were filled with sand and paddle-boarders got arrested. New Jersey closed gyms, with malicious prosecution of the owners. New York bolted boards through b-ball hoops in parks.
Non-compliance got you shunned or fired.
What do you supposed would have happened during COVID in an age where flock cameras and AI could generate CCP-style Social Credit scores for the good and naughty little girls and boys. (And whose definition of good and naughty do you suppose would Team Biden have relied upon?)
It’s not about what the tech could be used for in the best case scenario that matters… so much as what kind of unchecked power does it put in the hands of people who CANNOT be trusted to use it correctly?
