Cleveland police will be able to keep using Flock Safety’s network of license plate readers for at least another six months while city officials consider whether to continue with the controversial company or switch to another provider.
The extension, which must be approved by a full vote of City Council, tightens the reins on the technology in order to keep the cameras – that law enforcement have called vital – operating. In addition to shortening the contract extension from a year to six months, the legislation would require the city to take bids from other vendors, publish information about how the technology is used, and add language to the contract that forbids the company from sharing Cleveland’s data with outside sources.
Public Safety Director Wayne Drummond told council members during a four-hour Safety Committee meeting Tuesday that six months may not be enough time to put the contract out to bid and accept proposals. Council Member Mike Polensek, chair of the committee, said that most council members — and residents, in his experience — are fine with license plate readers, but “there are great concerns about the vendor.”
Polensek called the six-month extension and RFP a compromise.
“We’re trying to come up with a reasonable approach,” Polensek said. “We’re trying to get this legislation passed, capisce?”
License plate readers are cameras that capture images of every passing vehicle. Those images are transmitted via cellular networks to a database and stored for 30 days. Law enforcement agencies can share access to their databases with each other.
Suggested Reading
What police surveillance technology looks like in Cleveland
License plate readers are just one of the surveillance tools Cleveland police are using across the city.
That sharing network was just one issue with the technology that caught the attention of residents concerned about privacy. Another was how it could be used to target immigrant communities. A third concern, raised by council members as they vetted the legislation, was whether there was evidence that the technology was making neighborhoods safer.
Bryn Adams, a leader of opposition group Flock No CLE, told Signal Cleveland that the group would not be mollified by a change in provider.
Installing another company’s cameras “won’t address the fundamental concerns we have regarding invasions of privacy, data sharing with federal agencies, vulnerability to security breaches, etc.,” Adams said in a statement.
City data points to uptick in arrest rates for some crimes
This was the second time in three weeks that Public Safety officials faced the Safety Committee. In June, with fewer members in attendance, the committee rejected the one-year contract extension. But City Council President Blaine Griffin asked the committee to give the department another shot at making its case. In the interim, the contract expired but the company agreed to keep Cleveland’s 100 cameras functioning while council and city officials work out the terms of an extension.
During previous meetings, council members asked the city to provide more data to show that the investment in license plate readers is improving public safety and helping to solve crimes.
At the hearing on Tuesday, Cleveland safety officials provided data showing slightly higher arrest rates for crimes including robberies, felony assaults and burglaries since the city started using license plate readers in 2023. An accompanying memo explained the difficulties in tracking and evaluating outcomes linked to the technology.
- The city has no routine way to accurately count up cases “solved by Flock” or for determining where the technology contributed to an arrest or charges. It did provide a list gathered from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office where an investigation or prosecution was assisted by the use of a Flock license plate reader.
- Researchers have a hard time quantifying the effect of license plate readers because many variables — witness statements, video cameras, forensic testing — can contribute to some extent to solving any crime. Isolating the value of the license plate readers is imperfect, expensive and can take years.
The research that does exist shows that license plate readers can be beneficial in specific types of cases, such as recovering stolen vehicles and identifying (and ruling out) suspects. Research is thin on whether the use of license plate readers or the Flock network helps to deter or reduce crime overall.
At the same time, the city told council it should give “great weight to the firsthand testimony and professional judgment of the officers, detectives, and analysts who use Flock in the field and are best positioned to assess its actual investigative value,” along with the perspective of the county prosecutor’s office.
The prosecutor’s office urged council to keep license plate readers as a tool, though the letter from Prosecutor Michael O’Malley made it clear the office wouldn’t advocate for any particular vendor. The office pointed to five high-profile homicide cases that it said would be unsolved if not for license plate readers.
The list of cases the office provided included cases dating back to 2017, though that predates when Cleveland started using Flock license plate reader technology. It notes cases where Flock generated a lead, helped identify a suspect or vehicle or was used by prosecutors to gather information as they prepared for trial. (A prosecutor’s office spokesperson said at least one case from 2018 was erroneously included and that the office would be reviewing the list.)
O’Malley’s letter acknowledged privacy concerns that had been raised by some residents but said the “risks of eliminating LPRs far outweigh the perceived benefits of doing so.”
Cleveland stops allowing outside searches of database
Safety Committee members also added language to the bill forbidding Flock from sharing Cleveland’s data with anyone (the company says it doesn’t do that) and authorizing fines if it does.
In November, Cleveland police started blocking immigration-related searches by other law enforcement agencies. At Tuesday’s hearing, Police Chief Dorothy Todd revealed that Cleveland police are no longer sharing any data on the nationwide network. That means that other law enforcement agencies can’t search Cleveland’s database and vice versa.
A Public Safety spokesperson told Signal Cleveland that Cleveland police will continue to opt out of nationwide searches “if that is the continued approach our council partners are asking for.”
Todd also said that the division of police is working with the city’s Office of Urban AI on an online “transparency portal” that will provide some insight into how officers are using the system. (The division offers something similar for its drone use.) The spokesperson said the portal will also provide information about “the outcomes it delivers and the safeguards in place to protect privacy.” Neither Todd nor the spokesperson said when the portal would be available.
Polensek said that council’s Finance Committee would take up the bill next, but that hearing has not been scheduled. The full council meets on July 15.
