Zine analyzes Flock ALPR cameras in Oak Park, IL
About this research
Oak Park is a roughly five square mile Village adjacent to Chicago. In 2020, the Village’s values were tested when residents demanded that Oak Park address the racial disparities in policing in the aftermath of George Flyod’s murder by Minneapolis police. This dialog came to an inflection point as the Village considered installing Flock Safety’s Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras in response to what southwest Oak Park neighbors felt was an increase in crime in the winter of 2021.
Working in close consultation with Flock representatives, Oak Park’s Police Chief made a case that installing Flock cameras would make our community safer. It was a case that the Village Board of Trustees ultimately agreed with by approving a two-year contract for 8 Flock ALPR cameras via a contentious vote. After the contract was approved, Freedom to Thrive Oak Park began collecting data to understand the conversations that led to this decision, and documents that detailed the impact of installing Flock in Oak Park. This zine is a summary of what we learned. Specifically:
Oak Park’s Flock cameras are recording over 300,000 license plate scans every month. The Village is sharing this data with organizations across the country, including municipalities that have a known history of working with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or that are hostile to abortion rights. This data sharing presents a conflict with Oak Park’s Welcoming Village and Abortion Sanctuary ordinances.
Oak Park’s Flock cameras are inflicting harm on our community’s Black residents. In the first 10 months of their uses, 84% of the drivers stopped by Oak Park police because of Flock were Black.
Oak Park’s use of the Flock ALPR system is rife with errors; 40% of Oak Park’s Flock stops were mistakes due to bad data or an officer error.
There is NO REFORMING Oak Park’s use of Flock ALPRs. The only solution is to cancel the Flock Safety contract. This zine will help explain why.
