Documented Incident
Cleveland school district says outside agencies searched its Flock data 130,000 times
First reported: October 14, 2026 · 1 source
Cleveland Metropolitan School District officials told Signal Cleveland in June that only district security officers and Cleveland police could access data from the district's 201 Flock license plate readers. District officials later said that statement was incorrect: more than 500 law enforcement agencies nationwide ran over 130,000 searches of CMSD camera data before the district cut off outside access on July 6. At an Oct. 13 board presentation, safety officials asked the board to approve a one-year, $603,000 contract renewal with Flock Safety, saying new controls now limit sharing to Cleveland police. The board was scheduled to vote Oct. 27.
The case shows how a school district's ALPR network can be searchable by hundreds of outside agencies without district leaders accurately describing the arrangement publicly, raising questions about who verifies data-sharing claims and how institutions audit surveillance systems they operate.
Key facts
- CMSD operates 201 Flock license plate readers covering parking lots at 62 schools; the district first contracted with Flock in the 2023 school year.
- District officials said 92% of searches of CMSD data came from non-local agencies, and that an internal audit found none were for immigration or reproductive-rights purposes; the audit has not been released and Signal Cleveland's requests for search data were denied.
- Board chair Sara Elaqad requested the audit in April after community members and teachers raised concerns about possible use in immigration enforcement.
- From July 7 to Aug. 28, after outside access was turned off, CMSD and Cleveland police ran 16,047 searches; 60 were by CMSD security staff. Car thefts and robberies accounted for 41% of searches, while 30% were logged as "other."
- The proposed one-year renewal is $603,000; by comparison, the City of Cleveland pays $250,000 for 100 readers. Officials said Flock declined to lower the per-camera price.
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- CMSD said outside agencies searched its Flock data 130,000 times (Signal Cleveland, October 14, 2026)
More from Ohio
Everything we have documented in Ohio, or search every Ohio article in the archive.
About this record
BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.
Updated October 16, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.