Cleveland police say a network of Flock Safety cameras and the city’s Real Time Crime Center helped them track down and arrest three people accused of breaking into multiple Cleveland school properties on Monday. Officers pulled over a white Honda Civic near East 152nd Street and Thames Avenue after an audible alarm sounded at the former Collinwood High site, and reported finding what they described as criminal tools and drugs inside the car.
According to a police release reported by Cleveland 19, Cleveland Metropolitan School District Board of Education security told investigators that two people had been spotted unlawfully entering two separate school properties earlier in the day. Analysts at the Real Time Crime Center, working with Flock camera data, flagged a white Honda Civic seen entering and exiting the parking lots at both locations. The car also matched what campus cameras had picked up. Officers later found the same vehicle after the Collinwood alarm and stopped it in the East 152nd and Thames area, the release states.
The police release identified Euclid Park and what it described as a Woodworth-area school among the allegedly targeted sites. The district lists Euclid Park School at 17914 Euclid Avenue. A City of Cleveland redevelopment RFQ lists 14311 Woodworth Avenue as a Cleveland Metropolitan School District property on the Woodworth campus, matching the Woodworth address tied to the incident.
How Police Zeroed In On The Honda
Real Time Crime Center analysts reviewed Flock footage and placed the same white Honda Civic at each of the reported locations. Investigators say that let them narrow their search once the alarm went off at the former Collinwood High site. Officers stopped the car near East 152nd and Thames Avenue and confirmed that the three occupants matched descriptions from Board of Education security and campus surveillance video. Police said they seized criminal tools and drugs during the traffic stop, according to the release reported by Cleveland 19.
Why The Cameras Matter - And Why They Are Raising Eyebrows
The arrests land right in the middle of a heated debate over the district’s network of Flock license-plate readers and the roughly $603,000-a-year subscription the system requires. The price tag and reach of the cameras have drawn fire from parents and privacy advocates, who want the Board of Education to take a hard look at the program before a mid-July renewal. As reported in coverage of the district’s 201 license-plate cameras and looming Flock renewal deadline, local organizers have urged the board to reconsider the deal.
Concerns are not limited to Cleveland. National reporting has raised alarms about how automated license-plate reader systems can be used for cross-jurisdictional searches and immigration-related queries. CBS News has documented broader backlash to similar camera networks in other states.
