Ken Welch
Role at the time: St. Petersburg mayor and 2026 candidate for reelection
Defended or excused
Statement summary
Welch defended continued use of St. Petersburg's Flock cameras, arguing that they help police and that the city has privacy protections.
“Let's talk about it without throwing out a tool that is helping us track down people that make us less safe as a community”
Open the original interview (opens in a new tab)Crist calls for Flock camera moratorium, Welch defends use
Spectrum News original interviews with both St. Petersburg mayoral runoff candidates.
Why we used this label
The reference point is whether networked license-plate reader systems such as Flock should exist and be used. Welch said the city should talk about the cameras without throwing out a tool that helps police track down people who make the community less safe. Keeping the cameras fits Defended.