Shaker Heights activists say the city’s quiet license-plate camera system has been doubling as an immigration tool, and they have the records to prove it. After uncovering hundreds of immigration-related queries run through the Flock Safety database used by Shaker Heights police, organizers pushed city leaders into blocking such searches and are now demanding full transparency and a hard look at the city’s deal with the private vendor.
What the records show
Documents obtained by the activist group Shake Off Flock show law-enforcement agencies logged 273 searches of Shaker Heights’ Flock database that listed “immigration” as the reason, with 187 of those entries recorded in January alone. The January lookups, activists say, included more than 70 searches originating inside Ohio and 116 from outside the state. By the time they started digging, February records were already gone because of the system’s 30-day retention rule, according to Cleveland.com.
Policy and retention
On paper, the city’s License Plate Reader policy is pretty straightforward. Shaker Heights operates 18 Flock-brand cameras, and images and associated metadata are deleted after 30 days. Critics say that short window leaves very little time to audit old searches or track how often outside agencies dip into the system. The policy is posted on the city’s website at Shaker Heights.
Activists’ demands
Shake Off Flock organizers argue the records show how a local surveillance system can be repurposed for immigration enforcement, even when a city claims that is not its focus. Their petition points out that the program grew from seven cameras to 18 under a five-year agreement totaling roughly $204,550, and it calls for a full release of audit logs and an independent review of the system’s use and oversight, per Action Network.
Regional context
Shaker Heights is not the only Ohio city asking hard questions about Flock. In Dayton, officials said they found 7,100 search requests that cited immigration and have suspended their Flock program while they investigate. Reporting on the Dayton case and the broader scrutiny of Flock systems in other jurisdictions is available from WOSU.
What officials say and what’s next
City leaders have told reporters that the Shaker Heights Police Department does not proactively investigate immigration matters and will only work with federal orders tied to criminal cases. Following the uproar, the city announced a systemwide block on immigration-related searches effective May 5, as reported by Cleveland.com. Activists say that move is a small but welcome fix and insist it is no replacement for releasing complete audit logs and convening an independent review of the contract, access controls and how the system is actually being used.
