Akron announced it is immediately opting out of nationwide searches of its Flock camera network, cutting off the broad access outside law enforcement agencies have had to the city's license-plate readers. The city says agencies outside Ohio will no longer be able to tap into Akron's cameras through sweeping nationwide searches, though local police use and in-state access remain untouched.
The city made the announcement in a statement posted to its website, saying the change takes effect immediately and prevents outside law enforcement agencies from accessing Akron's cameras through broad searches, according to the City of Akron. As WKYC reported, Mayor Shammas Malik said the move closes access via nationwide searches without compromising Akron's ability to use the technology for residents' safety.
Audit Logs Showed Mostly Blanket Searches
The decision follows an ongoing review of the city's Flock audit logs and concerns raised by residents and Akron City Council regarding privacy, immigration enforcement, and reproductive rights, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. That review found that most of the searches made by outside law enforcement were blanket searches made across the nationwide Flock network, rather than targeted requests tied to criminal activity in Akron, the paper reported.
Mayor Malik said nationwide blanket searches provide little or no public-safety benefit to Akron residents and may enable access for purposes that conflict with city policies and community values, per WKYC. Public Safety Chief Craig Morgan shared the update with Akron City Council's Public Safety Committee on Monday, telling the committee that the city is addressing concerns through careful review, meaningful safeguards and transparency, WKYC reported.
Local and Statewide Access Still Intact
The change will not affect the Akron Police Department's ability to use Flock for local public safety purposes, the Beacon Journal reported. Agencies in Ohio will also still be able to search Akron's system for statewide searches, and outside agencies with a legitimate investigative need and reason to believe a suspect is in Akron may still contact the Akron Police Department directly, per the same account.
This is not Akron's first move to restrict outside access. In May, the city disabled search categories related to immigration enforcement and women's reproductive health for outside agencies, according to the Beacon Journal. Officials say the city will continue reviewing both the Akron Police Department's internal use of Flock and outside agencies' access to the network, and will share further updates and resulting policy changes with City Council and the public as that review continues.
A System With Nationwide Reach
Akron's network of nearly 150 Flock Safety surveillance cameras logs every car that drives by into a database instantly accessible to thousands of law enforcement agencies, according to Signal Akron. The outlet identified 8,829 immigration-related searches among 33.4 million total external searches of Akron's network between December 2024 and June 2026. Akron's contract with Flock runs through 2028, according to Ideastream Public Media.
The scrutiny extends well beyond Akron. A USA TODAY analysis of more than 75 million Flock license-plate-reader searches spanning three and a half years and more than 6,300 agencies surfaced 240 users whose frequent and persistent searches stood out from more casual use, according to USA TODAY. In the two months before that report, at least 19 police and sheriff's office employees across five states were arrested, fired, placed on administrative leave or put under investigation over potentially improper Flock use, the outlet found, and Flock itself changed its software in December 2025 to black out most officer initials, license plate numbers and search reasons from audit logs.
Ohio Communities Are Taking Different Paths
More than 8,000 Flock cameras are set up in communities across Ohio, according to an open-source database cited by The Ohio Newsroom, and residents statewide have raised similar questions about privacy and data sharing. Cleveland removed itself from Flock's national lookup network so other cities and federal authorities cannot search vehicles on its cameras, while extending its own Flock Safety contract for six months with added guardrails, per the same report. Oxford's City Council voted 6-1 to terminate its Flock contract entirely after residents raised concerns about mass surveillance, and Coshocton and Wyandot counties have also ended their Flock contracts.
Shaker Heights amended its contract in June to bar federal agencies, out-of-state agencies and agencies with certain agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement from accessing its data, according to cleveland.com. Lorain County, meanwhile, announced it would not renew its Flock contract due to soaring costs, the outlet reported. Akron's decision adds the city to a growing list of Ohio jurisdictions recalibrating how far their camera networks' reach should extend beyond their own borders.
