Cleveland activists say ‘Flock No!’

Cleveland

FlockNo! protested Flock cameras put up by the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) by holding a “Back-to-School Birding Expedition” on Aug. 30. The group, organized to oppose automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) used by the city of Cleveland and the CMSD, held gatherings on the city’s West Side and East Side. Both actions — where activists donned birding gear, including binoculars, to spot the unpopular surveillance cameras — were held outside two schools among the 30 that CMSD has closed within the past two years.

FlockNo! has explained the many arguments against the contracts Cleveland and CMSD signed with Flock to provide ALPRs. Reasons to cancel the contracts include that the cameras “violate our right to privacy” and “put undocumented people and other vulnerable communities at risk.” (flocknocle.com) Local police departments have been exposed for sharing ALPR-generated data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The group also charges that Flock devices “are expensive and don’t make us safer,” pointing out that, “Vendors like Flock say they’re focused on ending crime, but no independent research exists to support their claims.” CMSD is spending $603,000 per year on its contract with Flock, which includes posting cameras outside closed schools that no students currently attend. That money could be used to rehire hundreds of recently laid-off teachers and reopen schools. such as Newton D. Baker School of the Arts or Collinwood High School, where the Aug. 30 protests took place.

Cleveland has over 300 ALPRs inside city limits. In addition to Cleveland, almost 60 surrounding suburbs in Cuyahoga County have Flock cameras installed. Campaigns against Flock are active in a number of these communities, including Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights.

Parallel groups opposed to the surveillance cameras have emerged on a countrywide and local level in many municipalities.