Cleveland plans to ditch Flock Safety’s license plate readers in favor of another company’s system, but the scrutiny of the controversial technology isn’t going away.
Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration is asking City Council to approve a new contract with Flock competitor Axon Entreprises for its license plate readers. Axon is an Arizona company formerly known as TASER International. Cleveland police already use Axon’s body cameras and Fusus, a software platform that pulls together data from multiple surveillance systems.
The administration proposed a one-year contract with options to renew. It has not provided a cost.
Axon’s license plate reader system “provides the tools, controls, and accountability measures necessary to protect the civil liberties of our residents while supporting public safety efforts in our most vulnerable neighborhoods,” a city spokesperson told Signal Cleveland. “We believe the City can deploy this technology in a manner that enhances public safety while protecting residents’ privacy and individual rights.”
Flock No Cleveland, an opposition group, is not convinced.
Switching vendors “is not going to magically solve the problem of public opposition to surveillance,” said Bryn Adams, a spokesperson for the group. “Axon is just Flock with a better PR department, deeper ties to the federal government and even more invasive AI capabilities.”
Replacing Flock cameras with Axon’s won’t affect the Cleveland Community Police Commission’s plans to revisit the current policy that governs police use of license plate readers, according to Commissioner Shandra Moriera-Benito. The commission is gathering input from residents, experts and city officials to determine whether to revise the policy it passed in 2025. (An online survey is open until Nov. 16.)
The commissioners also passed a resolution requiring Cleveland police to stop using license plate readers on Jan. 1 and not resume until the commission completes its review. Moriera-Benito said it’s “highly unlikely” that will happen before January.
It’s not clear whether the city would heed that resolution.
Council will set ‘parameters’ on license plate readers, member says
License plate readers are cameras that capture images of every passing vehicle. The images are stored in databases that law enforcement agencies can share with each other. Cleveland police have 100 Flock license plate readers in high-traffic areas around the city.
In May, city officials asked City Council Member Mike Polensek, chair of the Safety Committee, for his permission to bypass council and renew the contract with Flock without seeking other bids. Polensek refused.
After two hearings featuring impassioned appeals from supporters and opponents of the technology, council approved a six-month contract extension on the condition that the city solicit proposals from other companies.
The administration is also proposing a one-year contract with a company called Skydio for a “drone as a first responder” system and a one-year contract to continue using the ShotSpotter gunshot detection tool. (The city previously considered Flock’s gunshot detection system.)
Polensek learned about the new legislation at a Monday lunch for committee chairs. Afterward, he told told Signal Cleveland he expected the administration would discuss it with him at a meeting Tuesday.
Polensek argued that license plate readers were critical for catching people responsible for violent crimes. He dismissed the idea that “Big Brother’s watching us, every move we make” with the technology.
“I am in support of license plate readers because they have proven they work,” he said. “But they also have to have parameters around them, and that’s what we’ll be doing.”
He said council should ensure there are limits on who can access license plate reader data.
