Resistance to Flock cameras grows in Cleveland
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Resistance to Flock surveillance cameras is spreading across Northeast Ohio as the scope of the company's data collection comes to light.
State of play: Critics say the cameras create sprawling surveillance networks with few safeguards that can be used by federal immigration authorities and others.
- Supporters, including municipalities like Cleveland, argue they help police solve violent crimes and locate stolen vehicles.
The big picture: Flock cameras automatically scan and log license plates, creating searchable databases accessible to participating law enforcement agencies nationwide.
- Civil liberties advocates warn the system lets police cast broad investigative nets, track residents' movements and share data with outside agencies.
- Concerns escalated this year amid reports that some federal agencies used Flock systems for immigration-related searches.
The latest: In Shaker Heights, the activist group Shake Off Flock recently uncovered records showing hundreds of immigration-related searches conducted through Shaker Heights' Flock network by agencies outside Ohio.
- That prompted the city to ban immigration-related searches and begin daily audits of system activity.
Zoom out: Opposition groups are also mobilizing in Cleveland and Cleveland Heights.
- Cleveland Heights recently passed restrictions barring Flock data from being used for civil immigration enforcement.
- In Cleveland, activists have pressured City Hall to halt a proposed expansion of Flock technology and want to end the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's contract.
What they're saying: "These systems ... always begin with claims they're in the public good, but we've seen time and time again over history that they turn into abusive systems of fascists," said Cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn on the "Today in Ohio" podcast.
- "The only way to fix it is unplug it."
The other side: Flock Safety supports communities "taking an active role in setting policies around how this technology is used," spokesman Paris Lewbel tells Axios.
- "All of Flock's products are designed with privacy, transparency, and local control at the forefront."
- Lewbel says Flock introduced search filters to all law enforcement customers nationwide that provide "built-in guardrails to prevent searches tied to uses prohibited by law or agency policy."