August 10th, 2026 COLUMBUS, Ohio - Columbus City Council held a public hearing Monday evening at City Hall on the city's use of Flock Safety license-plate-reading cameras. The hearing follows a Columbus police audit that found 15,577 searches of the city's Flock camera data that could possibly be related to immigration enforcement. After the audit's release, Mayor Andrew Ginther ordered Columbus police to stop statewide sharing of Flock camera data.
A group gathered outside City Hall ahead of the hearing to protest the cameras, carrying signs reading "End the Contract," "Bag the Cameras," and "Flock Out." One protester holding a sign reading "Flock Off" said, "We can certainly do things to make us safer without sacrificing all of the rights that make America what it is."
Inside the hearing, a Flock company representative was booed by attendees.
Columbus City Councilmember Emmanuel Remy, who requested the audit and chairs the council's public safety committee, said ahead of the hearing, "We don't want these used for any bad purposes."
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant addressed the department's use of Flock cameras in police work during the hearing.
