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Residents press county to cut Flock license-plate reader funding, cite transparency concerns
Summary
Multiple speakers told the Champaign County Board that the sheriff's office has been insufficiently transparent about a contract with Flock and that automatic license plate readers risk sharing data with immigration and other agencies; callers asked the board to consider eliminating appropriations for ALPRs.
During public input, several residents urged the Champaign County Board to reconsider county appropriations related to Flock automatic license-plate readers. Ekaterina Cizzerina presented FOIA findings she said showed a previously undisclosed contract between the Sheriff's Office and Flock, argued the contract was not posted to the county procurement portal and said she had documented instances where other counties had shared access to local Flock data.
"Without this list, we won't know whether our data has been shared with ICE," Cizzerina said as she urged the board to eliminate appropriations for Flock and similar surveillance devices. Bhavna, a University of Illinois PhD student who researches algorithmic justice, said local regulations and transparency are necessary to protect residents from data-driven harms and urged the county to begin such conversations at the board level.
Other commenters cited national reporting and local incidents in which plate-reader data or camera systems were used to locate people. Board members acknowledged they cannot directly regulate sheriff's policy but discussed using appropriation authority and oversight requests to pursue transparency. Several said they would formally request the sheriff or county auditor appear before the board to explain the contract and data-sharing safeguards.
