Chicago-area college asked Flock Safety to remove its cameras; company declined, WBEZ reports

First reported: October 9, 2026 · 6 sources

WBEZ Chicago reported that a community college in the Chicago area asked Flock Safety to take down automated license plate reader cameras on or near its campus, citing concerns about the safety of immigrant students amid heightened federal immigration enforcement. According to the report, Flock Safety declined to remove the cameras. The full details of the contract, camera locations and the company's stated reasoning were not available in the text reviewed for this entry.

Why this matters

The dispute raises questions about who ultimately controls ALPR hardware and the data it generates once a camera is installed, and whether a local institution that hosts or requests cameras can have them removed when it changes its mind.

Key facts

Reported by WBEZ Chicago; the institution is described as a Chicago-area college in Illinois.
The college's stated motivation was protecting immigrant students from potential surveillance exposure.
Flock Safety refused the removal request, according to WBEZ's reporting.
The contractual basis for the camera placement and Flock's full response are not detailed in the material available here.

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

To protect immigrant students, a Chicago-area college told Flock to remove its cameras. The company refused. (WBEZ Chicago, October 9, 2026)
A College Told Flock to Remove Its Cameras. The Company Refused. (Slashdot, October 11, 2026)
To protect immigrant students, a Chicago-area college told Flock to remove its cameras. The company refused. (https://www.opencampus.org/, October 9, 2026)
To protect immigrant students, a Chicago-area college told Flock to remove its cameras. The company refused. (Chicago Sun-Times, October 9, 2026)
A college in Illinois tried to cancel its Flock contact and it refused (The Verge, October 11, 2026)
An Illinois College Tried To Cancel Its Flock Contract. Flock Refused. (Reason Magazine, October 13, 2026)

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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 14, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.