Ohio attorney general releases statement on use of Flock cameras in state

Our Take

When a state's top law enforcement official feels compelled to issue a public statement on license plate reader cameras, that's a signal the pushback is working. WLWT's report doesn't give us the full text of the Ohio AG's statement, but the mere fact that it exists tells you Flock Safety's rapid, often quiet expansion across Ohio communities has become impossible to ignore. Credit to WLWT for putting this on the public record — these statements matter, and residents deserve to know exactly what their state's top prosecutor thinks about a surveillance network that logs their movements by default.

We've said it before: statements are easy, oversight is hard. An AG acknowledging that Flock cameras exist and are controversial is not the same as auditing who has access to the data, how long it's retained, or whether local police departments are quietly sharing plate reads with ICE or out-of-state agencies. Ohio residents should be asking their own city councils and sheriffs those exact questions rather than waiting for Columbus to do it for them.

If you live in Ohio and want to know whether Flock cameras are already watching your street, check our map. And if you want to push back on your local department's contract before it gets renewed, our take-action guide walks you through exactly what to ask and who to ask it to.