Sixteen Flock cameras surveil Athens County

ATHENS COUNTY, Ohio — Public records obtained by the Independent show the locations of 16 automatic license plate reader cameras, aka ALPRs, used by Athens County law enforcement agencies.

The cameras are made by Flock Safety, a surveillance technology company. 

Both the Athens Police Department and Athens County Sheriff’s Office have current contracts with Flock. The departments utilize six and 10 cameras, respectively.

As for the Ohio University Police Department, “OUPD does have license plate readers as part of the technology in our patrol vehicles,” Captain Tim Ryan said in an Aug. 10 email. “However, we do not have any stationary ALPRs on campus, nor do we have any Flock cameras.” 

OUPD’s ALPRs in its cruisers utilize Axon technology, Ryan said.

In addition to cameras operated by local law enforcement, private properties host Flock cameras in Athens County. View a crowdsourced mapped database of Flock cameras at deflock.org.

The use of Flock by law enforcement has prompted privacy and surveillance concerns nationwide — and pauses, including in Columbus and Hamilton County, Ohio. 

Ohio Republican lawmakers drafted two bills in August proposing how to regulate Flock cameras. On Sept. 1, a bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote a letter to the Ohio Department of Transportation, requesting it to stop issuing permits for ALPRs and review current camera locations.

Locally, Strong Towns Athens and the Americans For Civil Liberties Union of Ohio hosted a well-attended community forum in June that discussed the Athens County Sheriff’s Office’s Flock contract. 

Athens Police Department

In 2024, the Athens Police Department contracted with Flock for $13,100 for an initial 12-month term, for four cameras. In 2025, the police department signed a two-year contract with Flock for $12,300 to purchase two more cameras. That contract expires in February 2027.

Upon request, APD Chief Nick Magruder shared via email June 15 a list of the installation dates and approximate locations of his agency’s six cameras:

1. Feb. 8, 2024: West Union Street, near 525 W. Union St.
2. March 19, 2024: Intersection of Columbus Road and U.S. 33 southbound.
3. March 19, 2024: Intersection of Richland Avenue and U.S. 33 northbound.
4. May 27, 2025: East State Street, near 547 E. State. 
5. June 23, 2025: East Stimson Avenue roundabout.
6. Nov. 19, 2025: Interaction of East State Street and Della Drive.

In 2024, the city granted permission to Flock to install its cameras for APD on city-owned poles and right-of-ways. 

Athens County Sheriff’s Office

The Athens County Sheriff’s Office in 2024 contracted with Flock for 10 cameras for $69,500 over a two-year period. That contract auto-renewed this past June. 

The Athens County Sheriff’s Office initially denied a records request for the location of its Flock cameras, claiming the camera installations were “Confidential law enforcement investigatory records,” exempted from Ohio Sunshine Law under ORC 149.43(A)(1)(h).

After the Independent’s attorney reached out to the prosecutor’s office to explain why ORC 149.43(A)(1)(h) does not apply to the camera locations, the sheriff’s office fulfilled the Independent’s resubmitted request. 

The sheriff’s office provided a list via email of its 10 Flock camera locations.

According to right-of-way installation permits from ODOT, the sheriff’s office applied to install cameras at the following locations:

1. U.S. 33 eastbound at Hocking County line (Nelsonville) — applied September 2024.
   1. Permit; GPS 39.47208284769762,-82.2750107909342.
2. U.S. 33 at North Plains Road eastbound (The Plains) — applied September 2024.
   1. Permit; GPS 39.38979152752623,-82.1455983133685.
3. U.S. 33 at SR 550 (Athens) — applied September 2024.
   1. Permit; GPS 39.3635439867687,-82.11093147883756.
4. SR 682 at West Union Street (Athens) — applied September 2024.
   1. Permit; GPS 39.33138855130986,-82.12915946382434.
5. U.S. 50 eastbound at SR 329 (Guysville) — applied September 2024.
   1. Permit; GPS 39.3059635344122,-81.9575330455217.
6. U.S. 50 at Dollar General northbound (Albany) — applied September 2024.
   1. Permit; GPS 39.239562102517255,-82.19088816422521.
7. U.S 33 at Oxley Road overpass (The Plains) — applied October 2025.
   1. Permit; GPS 39.279212,-82.098896.
8. SR 7 at Brimstone Road westbound (Coolville) — applied February 2026.
   1. Permit; GPS 39.222670, -81.802750.

The sheriff’s office also has cameras at:

• SR 13 southbound at Braun Street (Glouster).
• Converse Street southbound at Main Street northbound (Chauncey).

Those two cameras were not placed along state routes, rather village roads, so ODOT did not issue any installation permits for them.

Records from ODOT also revealed that the sheriff’s office in 2024 applied to install a camera near Shade, at U.S. 33-Rainbow Lake Road northbound. However, there is no camera at that location, Sara Lightner, who processes records requests for the sheriff’s office, said in an email.