Flock Safety sells license-plate-reader cameras to colleges and police departments across the US. Elgin Community College in Illinois installed six in April 2025 — then learned Flock was sharing footage data with Border Patrol and that access was barely secured.
The college asked for removal. Flock refused. The school offered to pay out the remaining five months of the contract. Silence. So staff covered the cameras with trash bags and zip ties — and an unmarked vehicle kept coming to pull them off.
"We'd cover, and then they'd remove. Then we'd cover and then they'd remove," said president Peggy Heinrich.
This ran until April 2026, when the contract expired and Flock finally retrieved its cameras.
For your safety, of course. Via Chicago Sun-Times.
The Verge