An internal audit of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Flock camera system found no issues with searches after the district restricted access in July, but did not closely examine more than 130,184 earlier searches by outside law enforcement agencies.
Signal Cleveland requested the audit in June and again following the school board’s Oct. 13 meeting where district officials presented on its findings. A district spokesperson initially said it was not available and was still in draft form. The district released it last week. It was dated Sept. 30.
The audit found that new safeguards on who could search the data were only put in place while the review was underway. Its findings come as the school board considers renewing the district’s $603,000 annual contract for 201 license plate readers at 62 schools. The board could vote on the contract at its meeting this week on Oct. 27.
CMSD Flock audit followed privacy concerns
District officials had assured the public earlier this year that only CMSD security staff and Cleveland police could access the camera data. But more than 500 outside law enforcement agencies searched it before the district cut off their access on July 7. Some of those agencies were automatically given access by the system’s default settings but the audit also found 341 of them were “approved by a named CMSD administrator.”
The Flock license plate readers photograph passing vehicles and store the images in a searchable database, capturing license plates whether or not drivers are suspected of a crime. District officials say the system helps investigate car thefts and break-ins on school property.
Community members and teachers have raised concerns about privacy and whether the data could be used for immigration enforcement.
Those concerns extend beyond the district. In July, Cleveland City Council approved a six-month extension for the city’s separate Flock system while adding restrictions on outside access and requiring public reporting on its use. Those changes followed examinations showing tens of thousands of searches by out-of-state entities, including searches with purposes that were not clearly logged or identified.
Audit focused on searches after outside access ended
School board Chair Sara Elaqad requested the district audit in April. The audit found that CMSD had policies and procedures for the “secure and appropriate use” of Flock. But some key protections, including blocking outside agencies, were added during the review.
Before July 7, outside agencies conducted over 130,000 searches of district data, including more than 70,000 from out of state. Auditors did not examine those searches in detail. They focused on the period after the district restricted access and found “no issues.”
CMSD has denied Signal Cleveland’s request for logs that contain details about the searches, though both Cleveland and Akron police have provided the same information following public records requests.
CMSD did not respond to questions about when it introduced other safeguards. But Elaqad said she believes the audit served its goal of improving district operations.
“I think the audit resulted in stronger safeguards that were not previously in place,” she told Signal Cleveland.
Elaqad personally shares the concerns about privacy and around “the recent cases of law enforcement misuse” of the technology. But she told Signal Cleveland the board also has to balance those concerns with making sure the district has the resources to keep school property safe. Over the last year and half, the district has seen a rash of car break-ins and thefts from school parking lots many of which have impacted teachers.
Cleveland police conducted nearly all searches following restrictions
The audit also shows that Cleveland police account for nearly all searches of the district’s system. In July, police conducted 8,984 searches, compared with 44 by CMSD safety and security staff. Dividing the contract’s $50,250 monthly cost by those 9,028 searches works out to about $5.57 per search.
Most police searches involved vehicle thefts and break-ins, but the audit does not make clear how many involved crimes on district property. CMSD’s own search log shows staff used the cameras to look for suspects accused of breaking into school buildings this summer, including the closed Euclid Park elementary school. But the audit didn’t say how many of those searches led to investigative leads or arrests.
The cost of the technology has also led to questions from community members and teachers like Bekah Lejarde who asked board members why the district pays nearly $500 more per license plate reader than the city does. (Cleveland pays $250,000 annually for its network of 100 Flock cameras.)
“In this acute moment of change in the district driven by a budget crises,” Lejarde said in a public comment. “I’m perplexed why CMSD would spend $600,000 annually on Flock camera subscription services.”
