“The university, with Flock Safety, has created a network of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) that record license plates, vehicle data, physical features of vehicles, and store all this data on a searchable database that is sold to law enforcement agencies,” said a news release from Desert Rising, a Tucson-based social justice organization that is leading the campaign against UA’s use of Flock Safety cameras.
“These cameras are located on posts on public thoroughfares on and around the university’s campus. Unlike other surveillance equipment, these cameras don’t deter crime; they gather personal data,” Desert Rising said.
According to a 404 Media investigation published on May 27, local police around the country had been searching for information in Flock’s AI-powered automatic license plate reader system for “immigration”-related searches, and as part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE investigations. The 404 Media investigation said this system has been giving federal law enforcement “side-door access” to a tool it currently does not have a formal contract for.
404 Media describes itself as a journalist-founded digital media company investigating “the ways technology is shaping and is shaped by our world.”
The UA’s five-year contract with Flock Safety began on Feb. 25, 2025. The contract shows that the university has 62 Flock Safety license plate reader products, while Desert Rising’s news release reported 54 ALPRs specifically. The annual recurring cost of the Flock cameras is $160,000, totaling $800,000 over the five years.
UA officials have said the University of Arizona Police Department uses the cameras and the information it collects to “investigate misdemeanor and felony offenses.”
UAPD Chief Chris Olson said the license plate reader system strengthens their ability to maintain “a safe and secure campus environment.”
“Operated under established protocols that comply with privacy laws and regulations, records are deleted after 30 days,” Olson said. “Third-party access to the data is prohibited without prior approval from UAPD or a court order.”
The UA or UAPD did not clarify which local, state and federal law enforcement agencies had prior approval from them or if there are any court orders to access the data being collected by Flock cameras on campus.
Flock Safety told the Arizona Daily Star that all Flock customers, including the UA, completely own and control 100% of the data collected from their cameras.
“No outside agency, whether local, state, or federal, can access that data unless the university explicitly chooses to share it,” said Paris Lewbel, Flock Safety’s public relations manager.
Desert Rising alleged UA officials “failed to notify the public of the use of this equipment and are violating civil rights.”
404 Media’s investigation said a “massive trove” of searches for data shared it showed “more than 4,000 nation and statewide lookups by local and state police done either at the behest of the federal government or as an ‘informal’ favor to federal law enforcement, or with a potential immigration focus,” according to statements from police departments and sheriff offices.
“It shows that, while Flock does not have a contract with ICE, the agency sources data from Flock’s cameras by making requests to local law enforcement,” said the 404 Media report.
In the “reason” field in Flock Safety searches, law enforcement officers across the U.S. have been using answers including “immigration,” “ICE” and “ICE+ERO,” which is ICE’s “Enforcement and Removal Operations” section that focuses on deportations, reported 404 Media. The report said that while searches involving “ICE” were made during both the Trump and Biden administrations, searches explicitly stating the reasons as “immigration” were made after U.S. President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January.
Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley put out a statement Aug. 25 addressing the “conflicting reports in the media about Flock’s relationship with federal agencies,” saying some of the company’s public statements provided inaccurate information. He acknowledged what he called Flock’s poor communication and said it didn’t create distinct permissions and protocols in the Flock System.
“While it is true that Flock does not presently have a contractual relationship with any U.S. Department of Homeland Security agencies, we have engaged in limited pilots with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), to assist those agencies in combatting human trafficking and fentanyl distribution,” Langley said, adding that all such ongoing federal pilot efforts had been paused.
The United Campus Workers Arizona, the Arizona chapter of the national Communications Workers of America union, is part of the campaign against UA’s contract with Flock.
According to UCWA, while the expansion of surveillance is always concerning, “it is particularly harmful for our university to participate in collecting and sharing our personal data in a moment when our public institutions are under attack and international students are detained for nothing more than co-authoring op-eds in defense of Palestinians’ human rights.”
“City governments from Austin to Evanston have responded to their residents’ concerns by cancelling their Flock Safety contracts, and we urge our university to join them,” the organization said. “People across Tucson have come together to oppose the presence of ALPRs.”
In response to Flock’s cameras on the UA campus, Tucsonans have created a group called Deflock Tucson, which has a petition going to end the UA’s contract with the company.
“This mass surveillance system is a gross violation of your Fourth Amendment rights, and the object of numerous ongoing lawsuits. It is a threat to your privacy and safety, and a gift of your data to the growing surveillance state,” said Deflock Tucson’s website.
“All visitors, students, staff, faculty, and community members are being tracked regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime. Your car’s make, model, color, and identifying features such as dents, roof racks, and bumper stickers are automatically entered as searchable data points made available to the police, ICE, border patrol, and others who have contracted with Flock Safety.”
Flock Safety’s Lewbel said, “Flock cameras are designed as an investigative tool to help communities solve and prevent crime. They capture still images of vehicles traveling on roadways, not people, and cannot be used to identify faces or personal details.”
“Typical uses include recovering stolen vehicles, investigating hit and run crashes, locating missing persons, responding to AMBER and Silver Alerts, and assisting investigations into serious crimes such as homicides or robberies.”
UA Resist and Students for Socialism are other groups and organizations that are part of the campaign being led by Desert Rising.
Arian Chavez, a UA student and member of Students for Socialism, said violence is still being perpetrated on campus even with tools like the Flock Safety cameras, referencing incidents, including a stabbing which took place at UA’s main library a month ago.
“And, instead of investing into programs that students actually want and programs that can alleviate some of the root causes of crime in general, the university wants to take away these programs and funnel this money into surveillance apparatuses on campus,” said Chavez.
While the groups involved in the campaign have asked the UA and UAPD to end their contracts, Chavez and UA Chair of the Faculty Leila Hudson said they hadn’t heard the administration directly acknowledge or respond to these requests.
Hudson said she still hadn’t seen UA’s contract, which she asked for during the summer, and that the community is only just learning about the Flock cameras and the surveillance they do through news coverage.
“The concerns being raised around the country help define what we need to know about local contracts to assure that the claim of public safety is not justifying violations of privacy or law,” Hudson told the Star.
© 2025 The Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, Ariz.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
