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Residents urge council to cancel Flock Safety contract, citing privacy and immigration concerns
Summary
Multiple residents told council to end the city’s contract with Flock Safety ALPRs, citing alleged third‑party access, data hosting in the cloud, and links to immigration enforcement; speakers asked for contract termination rather than further renegotiation.
A large group of residents used the public‑comment period to urge the Shaker Heights City Council to cancel the city's contract with Flock Safety, the automated license‑plate‑reader provider. Speakers cited privacy risks, third‑party data hosting, alleged federal access and national reporting that they say undermines local controls. Ethan Corona, opening the block of comments, said: "I've come here again today to ask the mayor and city council to cancel our city's contract with the company, Flock Safety." He and several others complained that promises to limit sharing were insufficient because data is hosted by a private company and can be accessed beyond local control.
Multiple commenters referenced reports and audits (for example, a report summarized from stopice.net) alleging that law‑enforcement and federal agencies use ALPR and geospatial data to target immigrants, and several speakers said Shaker Heights’ data had been accessed by outside agencies. Commenters asked the city either to cancel the contract or pursue stronger technical and contractual safeguards; council took public comment but did not respond during the meeting.
