Walking down Euclid Avenue from campus, the average student might spot an odd-looking camera facing the intersection of E. 30th and Euclid.

Little does that student know that one of these cameras caught their car a few weeks prior, which means the database the camera feeds into is already building a profile that could be linked to this individual. But how could that be?

Flock cameras are the name of the device found on E.30th and Euclid, and they’ve become an increasing topic of conversation on campus, and more notably, across Cleveland. First installed in 2023 with little public announcement or notice, one thing remains clear, many of these cameras are still in operation. 

Flock was founded in 2017 by Garrett Langley, Matt Feury, and Paige Todd to make neighborhoods across America safer. They claimed they would do this using ALPR (Automatic License Plate Recognition) cameras and network them to trace, identify, and profile cars by license plate and appearance. Three of these cameras are currently located near the Cleveland State campus on E. 30th & Euclid, the I-90 exit leading onto Euclid Ave, and the I-90 exit leading onto Chester Ave.

Those cameras are just three of thousands. Flock has a massive nationwide profile, touting its product as "Better tools for safer communities." Over 140,000 cameras have been installed across the U.S., with 2,500 cameras in the state of Ohio alone.

Police point to their value in locating stolen cars, suspects, and missing people. But Ohio residents, civil-liberties advocates, and an increasingly bipartisan group of officials object to the scale of interagency data sharing, potential immigration-enforcement access, lengthy or unclear retention practices, and documented misuse.

In Ohio, Columbus, Dayton, Reynoldsburg, Oxford and Hubbard have discontinued or suspended the program. Ohio is also reconsidering its involvement with the program at the state level.

Cleveland's about face on Flock

Cleveland is now not far behind, revising an earlier decision to expand the Flock camera program after community pushback and online criticism.

According to Signal, the council's safety committee added several amendments to the planned contract extension, cutting it to six months from a year, and adding language that prohibits Flock from sharing Cleveland’s data with outside law enforcement agencies or others, unless compelled by a search warrant.

While there have not been any notable misuse reports in the city of Cleveland itself, critics are concerned that innocent people risk being profiled while living their daily lives. 

What happens now with Flock in Cleveland is up to the city council, but if Ohio's second biggest city goes the way of many other counties and cities in the state, Cleveland could completely deflock.