Columbus Flock cameras are still being used for immigration enforcement #flockcameras #ohio #ice

Our Take

Columbus Media's clip from the Public Safety & Justice Committee's Flock Safety audit is a small window into a much bigger problem: local officials keep promising these networks won't be used for immigration enforcement, and then the audits keep telling a different story. Kat Finneran of 614 ICE Watch showing up to a council review to say the quiet part out loud — that ICE access hasn't actually been shut off — is exactly the kind of grassroots accountability work that makes these systems' real behavior visible, instead of just their PR.

This is the pattern we've tracked over and over: a city council approves ALPR cameras for "stolen vehicles" or "violent crime," civil liberties groups warn about mission creep, officials say don't worry, there are safeguards — and then an audit or public records request shows those safeguards were thin or unenforced. Once plate-and-location data exists in a searchable network, it becomes available to any agency with a login, a data-sharing agreement, or a friendly contact at another department, no matter what the original sales pitch promised residents.

Columbus isn't an outlier, it's a case study, and the people forcing that audit into public view are doing more to protect their neighbors than most of the officials who approved the cameras in the first place. If you want to see whether Flock or similar ALPR systems are already watching your own streets, check our camera map, and if you'd rather push back than just watch, our take-action page has concrete steps for pressuring your local council the way Columbus residents just did.