Take action in central Ohio

1. Show up to the August 10 hearing

   Columbus City Council holds a public hearing on Flock cameras on August 10, 2026, at City Hall — . Council will take public comment and question representatives from Flock directly. This is the single highest-leverage thing on this page right now.

   It follows an audit finding that Columbus police network data was searched for possible immigration-related reasons up to 15,577 times. Read the full local record before you go.

   Questions worth putting on the record:

   • The audit counted searches. How many were audited for justification, and what happened to the ones that failed?
   • Officials have acknowledged that an outside agency can enter a false search purpose and bypass filtering. What detects that, other than another audit months later?
   • The mayor halted statewide sharing. Is that a policy setting a future administration can reverse quietly, or a contract term?
   • Columbus police run a minority of the Flock cameras inside city limits. What governs the rest, and who answers for them?
   • The contract runs through the end of 2026. What is the process for renewal, and will it get a public vote?

   Confirm the time and public-comment sign-up on the City of Columbus site before you go — schedules move. If you can't attend, written comments to the clerk still enter the record.

2. Report a camera you've seen

   The map is only as complete as the people looking. If you spot an ALPR — usually a small black camera on a slim pole, often solar powered with a battery box, aimed down a lane of traffic — log it.

   The safe way to do it:

   • Note the location from the sidewalk or from a legally parked car. Never stop in a travel lane or step into traffic for a photo.
   • Record which way the camera faces and anything written on it — a vendor name, an agency name, an asset number.
   • Add it to OpenStreetMap as man_made=surveillance with surveillance:type=ALPR, or submit it through deflock.org if you'd rather not learn the editor. Our map picks it up either way.
   • Or just send it to us on Instagram and we'll map it.

   Photographing things visible from a public place is lawful. Don't trespass, don't touch or obstruct equipment, and don't argue with anyone who approaches you — none of that helps, and some of it is a crime.

3. File an Ohio public records request

   Ohio's Public Records Act (R.C. 149.43) is the most powerful tool an ordinary resident has here. Requests can be informal — email is fine — and you do not have to give your name or say why you want the records.

   Ask your city, township, or county agency for:

   • The current contract, purchase order, and pricing for any ALPR or fixed camera system.
   • The agency's ALPR policy, including retention period and permitted search purposes.
   • An inventory of camera locations.
   • Any data-sharing agreements, and the list of outside agencies with access.
   • Audit logs of searches for a recent month, including the stated reason for each query.

   Template: "Under R.C. 149.43, I request copies of the following records: (1) all contracts and purchase agreements with Flock Safety or any other automated license plate reader vendor currently in effect; (2) the agency's written ALPR policy; (3) a list of ALPR camera locations; (4) all data-sharing agreements governing ALPR data. I request these in electronic format. If any portion is withheld, please cite the specific exemption."

   Agencies must respond within a reasonable time. If yours stalls or refuses, the Ohio Court of Claims has a low-cost public records complaint process, and the Ohio Attorney General publishes a free Sunshine Laws manual explaining it.

4. Keep showing up after August 10

   One hearing is not a decision. Council meets regularly at City Hall with a public comment period, and the contract question returns at renewal. Suburban councils and township trustees across Franklin, Delaware and Licking counties hold the same sessions for the cameras they bought — and those rooms are far emptier, where one resident is a meaningful fraction of the room.

   What actually lands in two minutes:

   • Say where you live and that you drive through the district.
   • Ask three questions rather than making three accusations: How long is our data kept? Which outside agencies can search it? When was the last audit of who searched what, and can the public see it?
   • Ask for the contract to come back for a public vote before renewal.
   • Leave your written comments with the clerk so they enter the record.

   Check the current meeting schedule and public comment sign-up on the City of Columbus site — times and registration rules change.

5. Read your agency's transparency page

   Many departments running Flock cameras publish a public transparency portal listing camera counts, retention, search totals, and sharing partners. Find your agency's, then compare what it claims against what you get back from your records request.

   The gaps are the story. A department that publishes a camera count but not a sharing list, or search totals but no audit results, has told you exactly which question to ask next.

6. Bring one other person

   Nothing on this page works as well alone. Send this site to a neighbor, a tenant union, a mutual aid group, your congregation, your HOA board — especially your HOA board, since HOAs buy these cameras directly and can un-buy them without anyone's permission.

   Follow us on Instagram for meeting dates, records request results, and new cameras as they get mapped.

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What we are not asking you to do

We do not support damaging, obstructing, or interfering with cameras. Beyond being illegal, it hands the vendor the story it wants and costs the movement the credibility that public records and public meetings are slowly building. The cameras are a policy problem, and policy is where they come down.