A Chicago-area college told Flock to remove its cameras. The company refused

Elgin Community College installed six Flock Safety license-plate-reading cameras in April 2025 to help find stolen cars and missing people, but campus leaders reversed course after reports that federal immigration agencies had used Flock data elsewhere in Illinois and after an ICE agent detained a student in a campus parking lot. More than half of Elgin’s students identify as Latino, and administrators said enrollment dipped as students feared coming to campus. College officials asked Flock to remove the equipment in October and again in December 2025; Flock declined to uninstall, citing the contract and retaining ownership of the devices. Staff began covering cameras with black trash bags and zip ties to stop data collection, and workers in an unmarked vehicle repeatedly removed those coverings. The cameras were only taken down when the contract expired in April 2026.

Public records obtained by researchers and reporters show repeated searches of Flock data at other Illinois campuses, including Joliet Junior College, University of Illinois Chicago and Urbana-Champaign, and the Illinois Secretary of State found CBP searches that violated state law. Flock says federal agencies can no longer directly access local data without law enforcement permission, but surveillance experts note the company is incentivized to expand a broad network because wider coverage increases value. Students and educators across the state are pressing colleges to cancel Flock contracts, yet the readers remain installed at several public universities and community colleges, prompting concern about privacy and immigrant safety.