Cal Poly students protest use of controversial surveillance cameras
A group of Cal Poly students and community members marched through campus Friday as part of an effort to get controversial surveillance cameras removed from university grounds.
Cal Poly currently has a contract with Flock Safety — a company that operates surveillance systems in communities across the nation. According to university spokesperson Matt Lazier, Cal Poly operates 17 Flock cameras: ten automatic license plate readers and seven live cameras.
Students, however, have begun putting pressure on the administration to cut its contract with Flock over concerns that the cameras could expose immigrant communities to unwarranted surveillance and after some law enforcement agency systems have been reportedly accessed by outside agencies without their consent.
On Friday, a group of around 30 people marched from Dexter Lawn to the Cal Poly administration building, chanting and blowing whistles in protest of the controversial cameras.
One graduate student who spoke with The Tribune on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from administrators said the protest against Flock was just one frustration among many with Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong and university administration.
“We’ve been exhausted by the lack of accountability from admin,” the student said. “Admin has pretty consistently said that they will not get rid of ALPRs (automated license plate readers). Jeffrey Armstrong has said that no matter how many signatures are on a petition, no matter how many students speak to ASI, he’s not changing his mind ... on this system. I think that’s infuriating.”
The effort at Cal Poly is not the only one of its kind — and Cal Poly is not the only local community to use Flock cameras.
Cities like Grover Beach and San Luis Obispo also use Flock.
Meanwhile, organization DeFlockCentralCoast is advocating for the abolition of Flock cameras and other automatic license plate readers across six counties, The Tribune previously reported.
Cal Poly community protests Flock cameras
The crowd of students began protesting on Dexter Lawn, where organizers spoke to the crowd.
Students held signs with messages like “1984 no more” and “Cal Poly does not give a Flock about student’s safety.” One person was dressed in an inflatable frog costume, holding a sign depicting a crossed-out drawing of a flock camera.
The crowd then began carving its way through campus, chanting and blowing whistles.
“When Cal Poly puts up Flock, we stand up and walk,” the crowd chanted. “Admin gets paid while we get played.”
And students weren’t the only ones protesting on Friday.
Cal Poly computer science professor John Clements joined in the demonstration, citing his own concerns about mass surveillance.
“The Flock cameras placed around campus, I believe, are making it incredibly easy to surveil students and build kind of a nationwide network of surveillance,” he told The Tribune.
He said he was concerned about the possibility that immigration and customs enforcement, or other government agencies, could use the systems to track the movements of people they wanted to arrest.
“There’s a pattern of the administration not listening to students,” he added. “Clearly, Flock security is not the only issue that’s going on here.”
Also in attendance at the protest, but observing from afar, was Dean of Students Joy Pederson.
According to Lazier, Pederson was attending as part of her office’s Peace Ambassadors program, through which members of the dean’s office and other volunteers “help foster smooth events and facilitate communication among participants, law enforcement and other attendees.”
Friday’s demonstration lasted around an hour, and ended at Cal Poly’s administration building, where students continued chanting and blowing whistles.
Cal Poly denies that cameras can be used by ICE
According to Cal Poly, the Flock cameras it has installed at campus entrances and exits are part of an effort to increase safety on campus.
The cameras do not use facial recognition, but do collect vehicle-related data like license plate numbers, vehicle makes and models and other details, as well as the date, time and location of where a vehicle was seen, according to a Cal Poly Police Department Q&A that was shared with The Tribune.
“Access to LPR data is strictly limited to authorized police personnel,” it said. “LPR data is stored for 30 days, and all data is owned by Cal Poly and not Flock.”
The live cameras capture more details, but are not searchable in the database, the agency said.
The data is retained for 30 days, the Q&A said.
The Cal Poly Police Department maintains that it shares information with other law enforcement agencies by request only, with approval from the university chief of police. Additionally, Cal Poly is prohibited from sharing data with immigration officials unless ordered to do so by a court, the document said.
The department denied that it uses the system to track students or other campus visitors.
“CPPD does not use Flock for non-investigatory purposes,” the Q&A said. “Tracking students or staff would violate both campus and CSU policy. Live feeds are not routinely monitored unless needed for an active incident.“
The department repeated that it does not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement officials and does not use the system to monitor abortion-related travel, protesters or other sensitive activity.
“CPPD limits access to sworn officers, dispatchers for alert monitoring and notification only, designated criminal investigators, and authorized technical staff when needed for maintenance or troubleshooting,” the Q&A said. “Authorized users must complete platform training, a privacy-law briefing and annual refresher training before retaining access.”
.JPG)