To the editor:
The corporation Flock Safety has become a household name over the past year as communities across the country have chosen to finally draw a line between perceived public safety and their right to privacy. Nationally over 200 cities have ended their Flock contracts, averaging a whopping 3.5x cancellations a day in the month of August. In Ohio, Hamilton County along with the cities of Dayton, Oxford, Hubbard, Green, Cortland, Columbus, Lebanon, Ironton and Reynoldsburg have all either rejected renewing their contracts with Flock, paused their use in the middle of said contracts, and in some cases, outright banned the use of automatic license plate readers. In the state legislature, multiple automatic license plate readers (ALPR) regulation bills are currently in the works. Most notably, Gary Click, notorious crusader of the gender affirming care ban for transgender youth and the DEI overhaul of higher education, is proposing a 12-month moratorium on Flock. Will Athens not take a stronger anti-surveillance stance than the man who has required fulltime government monitoring of our trans youth and institutions of higher education?
In June, a group of activists came together to organize a town hall about the upcoming auto-renewal of Athens County’s Flock contract. With over 80 community members in attendance, the sentiment was clear: drag-net ALPR surveillance has no place in Athens. Unfortunately, despite several invitations and in-person meetings, Sheriff Rodney Smith chose not to attend the town hall and the County’s contract with Flock automatically renewed. While certainly a setback, this auto-renewal will not deter our advocacy to end warrantless government spying.
Good news: we have the opportunity at the City level to course correct. The City of Athens can join communities across Ohio in saying NO to drag-net ALPR surveillance prior to its Flock contract auto-renewal in February.
Further, we can pass local laws that ensure creepy surveillance technology can’t sneak into our communities by requiring contracts to be held to high standards of public scrutiny and accountability. Even further, we can pass outright bans on technologies like automatic license plate readers, audio detection, and facial recognition
We’re at an inflection point in this country, and I’m calling on Athens city leaders to take a stance. Say NO to drag-net surveillance and end all contracts with sneaky surveillance companies.
Natalie Johnson, Advocacy Strategist, ACLU OH
Athens County, Ohio