{"id":19048,"date":"2026-10-11T10:14:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T17:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=19048"},"modified":"2026-10-11T10:14:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T17:14:25","slug":"to-protect-immigrant-students-a-chicago-area-college-told-flock-to-remove-its-cameras-the-company-refused","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2026\/10\/11\/to-protect-immigrant-students-a-chicago-area-college-told-flock-to-remove-its-cameras-the-company-refused\/","title":{"rendered":"To Protect Immigrant Students, a Chicago-Area College Told Flock to Remove Its Cameras. The Company Refused."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s funny the liberals get bent out of shape with Flock helping ICE, but no concern for the privacy of actual citizens. And this behavior of Flock not removing the cameras until the contract was up, and even removing the plastic bags, kind of points to the university not being the actual customer. And are these included in a task force linked deal with the data uploaded to third party servers? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/education\/2026\/10\/09\/to-protect-immigrant-students-a-chicago-area-college-told-flock-to-remove-its-cameras-the-company-refused<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
Elgin Community College resorted to covering the surveillance cameras with trash bags and zip ties. Public records show that federal immigration authorities have accessed Flock data at other Illinois colleges.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

By Lisa Kurian Philip<\/a> Oct 9, 2026, 4:30am MDT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Peggy
Peggy Heinrich, the president of Elgin Community College, wanted Flock Safety to remove its surveillance cameras from campus after reports surfaced that federal immigration authorities had accessed camera data in Illinois. It took months for the cameras to finally come down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When Elgin Community College hired Flock Safety to install six surveillance cameras in April 2025, President Peggy Heinrich thought they would \u201cenhance the safety and security of students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company\u2019s automatic license plate readers use artificial intelligence to track the registration, model and details like dents and bumper stickers of every passing vehicle. They were supposed to help locate stolen cars and missing people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Heinrich started to wonder if the cameras were actually making students less safe after seeing news reports that data captured by Flock cameras in Illinois had been shared with U.S. Customs and Border Protection<\/u>.<\/a> Then in September 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained an Elgin Community College student<\/u><\/a> in a campus parking lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than half of students at the far west suburban Chicago campus identify as Latino. Heinrich said enrollment dipped. Students were afraid to come to class. College officials decided the cameras had to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just doing everything we can here to be sure this feels like a safe place for our students to come,\u201d Heinrich said. \u201cWe want them to come here and to be able to focus on learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As concerns about Flock and other makers of automatic license plate readers continue to emerge, students and educators across Illinois<\/u><\/a> are calling on college leaders to terminate their contracts with the company. They say the surveillance technology violates student privacy and endangers immigrant students and student activists who\u2019ve been targeted by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A Flock camera near the entrance to Joliet Junior College\u2019s main campus. Students have to pass at least one of the college\u2019s seven Flock cameras on their way to class there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Public records obtained by surveillance researcher Torin Monahan and WBEZ show that data captured by Flock cameras at other Illinois public campuses, including Joliet Junior College<\/u><\/a>, the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was searched dozens of times last year in connection with immigration enforcement. In some cases, federal immigration authorities directly accessed colleges\u2019 data. The Illinois Secretary of State<\/u><\/a> also found that U.S. Customs and Border Protection searched Illinois Flock data last year in violation of state law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heinrich said her staff audited the campus\u2019 Flock data and found no evidence to suggest it had been accessed by federal immigration agents. Still, college officials asked Flock to remove the surveillance cameras \u201cout of an abundance of caution for our students,\u201d Heinrich said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But getting the cameras taken down was not as simple as it sounds, especially because Flock retains ownership of the company\u2019s equipment. Flock responded to Elgin Community College\u2019s request with silence \u2014 and even resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flock Safety did not respond to WBEZ\u2019s request for comment. The company has said<\/u><\/a> federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, can no longer access local Flock data unless law enforcement agencies grant access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surveillance experts say the company is financially incentivized to have as many cameras gathering data as possible even in places that no longer want them, because potential clients are looking for the surveillance network with the greatest reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou get to access even more cameras throughout the country,\u201d said Monahan, a professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elgin Community College staff notified Flock in October 2025 that they wanted to cancel their contract and have the cameras taken down. Within a day, Heinrich said, Flock rejected the request and refused to uninstall the equipment on the basis that the company had not breached their agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

College officials reached out again in December 2025 and said they would pay for the remaining five months of the contract \u2014 they just wanted the cameras taken down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe never received a response back from Flock,\u201d Heinrich said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s when things got weird. Heinrich said Elgin Community College staff began to cover the cameras using black trash bags and zip ties so that they would not be able to capture footage. But workers in an unmarked vehicle, which Heinrich assumed belonged to Flock, repeatedly removed the coverings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were kind of in a back and forth for a bit where we\u2019d cover, and then when they\u2019d come to service, they\u2019d remove,\u201d Heinrich said. \u201cThen we\u2019d cover and then they\u2019d remove.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This strange dance continued, Heinrich said, until Elgin Community College\u2019s contract with Flock expired in April this year and the company uninstalled the cameras for good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flock cameras can undermine efforts to make students feel welcome<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But public records show Flock\u2019s license plate readers are still installed at several other colleges across the state, including at five of the state\u2019s 12 public universities and at four community colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the case at southwest suburban Joliet Junior College. At the main campus entrance, which is bordered on one side by cornfields, students like Lui Rodriguez have to pass at least one of the college\u2019s seven Flock cameras to get to class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lui
Joliet Junior College student Lui Rodriguez says the college staff do a lot to make students feel like they belong on campus. So he was shocked to learn the college contracts with Flock and that federal immigration agents have accessed data captured by cameras on campus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A third of students who attend Joliet Junior College, including Rodriguez, identify as Latino. The 26-year-old said the staff goes to great lengths to make students feel a sense of belonging. Rodriguez has even baked cookies with the dean of students to raise funds for the student group Latinos Unidos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe staff here care about the students,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Rodriguez was shocked when he found out that Joliet Junior College contracts with Flock \u2014 and that public records show data captured by cameras on campus was directly accessed by federal immigration agents last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a backstab to the students,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cI wish more people knew about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katie Smith, a spokesperson for Joliet Junior College, said college leaders and campus police proactively review who has access to their Flock data and would take any misuse of this information seriously. The college\u2019s contract with Flock is up for renewal in July 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe College remains committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students and staff while balancing its responsibility to provide a safe campus environment,\u201d Smith said in a written statement. \u201cThe safety of our students and the broader campus community is paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Rodriguez said those reassurances, and the Flock cameras, do not make him feel safer on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re being surveilled and our information can be used to track us down and detain us,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cThat\u2019s not conducive to education and learning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s funny the liberals get bent out of shape with Flock helping ICE, but no concern for the privacy of actual citizens. And this behavior of Flock not removing the cameras until the contract was up, and even removing the plastic bags, kind of points to the university not being the actual customer. And are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19049,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19048\/revisions\/19049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}