SURVEILLANCE

ISN’T SAFETY

We are a group of Cleveland residents who want to protect our privacy, ensure the safety of our neighbors and communities, and fight corruption in local government.

Our Objectives

Remove, Don’t Renew

Terminate the City of Cleveland’s Flock Safety contract and remove all automated license plate readers (ALPRs) from our streets.

Get Flock Out of Our Schools

End the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s contract with Flock and remove all ALPRs from school property.

Sign the "Remove, Don't Renew" Open Letter
Contact City Council

Why No Flock?

  • ALPR systems are a security risk

    Flock and other ALPR have a history of poor security practices, leading to data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information. Flock log-ins have been stolen and sold on the web (perhaps unsurprisingly, given that they don’t require two-factor authentication), and flaws in both Flock and Motorola camera systems have resulted in live camera feeds being streamed to the masses online.

  • ALPRs violate our right to privacy

    Flock systems indiscriminately collect data on every vehicle that passes regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime. This data is typically stored for thirty days and can be used to recreate a detailed picture of individuals’ movements, behaviors, and associations without a warrant.

  • ALPRs put undocumented people and other vulnerable communities at risk

    Flock data is regularly accessed through both official and unofficial channels by ICE, which uses this information to target their raids. Flock data has also been used to track people seeking reproductive healthcare across state lines (including in states where abortion is legal), and to profile racial minorities.

  • ALPRs are expensive and don't make us safer

    Vendors like Flock say they’re focused on ending crime, but no independent research exists to support their claims. Indeed, one study found that there is not even a moderate degree of correlation between ALPRs and stolen vehicle recoveries, let alone improved public safety.

  • ALPR data is prone to misuse and abuse

    Numerous examples exist of individual police officers across the country ignoring data retention policies, sharing data illegally, and misusing this technology to stalk or track people (e.g., partners and exes). There are few guardrails that can prevent this type of abuse, and officers are often only caught and punished after harm is done (if at all).

FAQs

  • Flock is a SaaS (software-as-a-service) company valued at over $7B that makes money by selling annual subscriptions to their products, which range from ALPRs to gunshot detection technology to drones to a database tool that links individuals' personal records across platforms.

  • Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs or LPRs) are AI-powered cameras that capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, storing details like your car's location, date, and time. They also capture your car's make, model, color, and identifying features such as dents, roof racks, and bumper stickers, often turning these into searchable data points.

  • No. Flock Safety has made a number of very public and very egregious missteps in the recent past, but the problems discussed on this website are not unique to them. All ALPR systems collect, store, and share data in a ways that virtually guarantee it will be abused.

  • ShotSpotter (now SoundThinking) is a gunshot detection technology that the City of Cleveland has used since 2023. A 2025 CSU report found that ShotSpotter has not reduced crime rates and has, in fact, worsened emergency response times. The Administration said they planned to stop using ShotSpotter and introduced an ordinance in November 2025 to authorize a 3-year, $2M no-bid contract to use Flock Safety’s gunshot detection technology instead. When residents pushed back via an open letter circulated by Flock No, the Administration tabled the ordinance. In April 2026, the Administration quietly renewed its ShotSpotter contract through a Board of Control resolution without providing any advance public notice of the decision.

  • History has shown that when governments or third parties gain unchecked surveillance powers, they're eventually used against people who weren't doing anything wrong—until someone decided they were. For example, until early in 2025, ALPRs weren't used for tracking immigrants (documented or otherwise), but now they are, despite policies prohibiting it.

Flock ALPR Locations

DeFlock is an open-source project that maps license plate readers across the county. Where’s your nearest Flock camera?

Cleveland.com has started to tally how many ALPRs are in every Cuyahoga County Municipality (Source)