SANDUSKY — Residents are being asked to attend an open meeting at City Hall Thursday to tell city official what they think about equipping the city with more “flock” surveillance cameras.
After dismissing concerns about expanding surveillance in the city and voting for it, Sandusky City Commissioner Richard Koonce and city resident Ethan Unzicker organized the forum in response to concerns about privacy Unzicker raised.
A $160,000 purchase order for new cameras, including
Meanwhile, at the the Statehouse a group of lawmakers is asking for limits on Flock cameras in the state, according to a report from the Statehouse News Bureau’s Jo Ingles.
The lawmakers want the Ohio Department of Transportation to pump the brakes when it comes to Flock automatic license plate readers and other AI-activated cameras.
UPDATE
State Rep. Tristan Rader (D-Lakewood) said the letter asks ODOT to “stop issuing new permits for license plate reading technology in the state’s rights of way, places they control along highways, mainly, and that they review applications for existing license plate readers.”
The letter comes from Rader and Reps. Darnell Brewer (D-Cleveland), Levi Dean (R-Xenia) and Justin Pizzulli (R-Scioto Cty.).
Ohio Capital Journal also picked up on a news report from a National Public Radio (NPR) report from George Shillcock about the city of Columbus suspending the use of Flock license plate cameras, citing an officer’s alleged misuse.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced Thursday the city is suspending its use of Flock automatic license plate readers and is investigating a police officer for potentially misusing the cameras.
Ginther and Police Chief Elaine Bryant said Officer Melvin Tellis has been relieved of duty, but not fired, as the city investigates his use of the cameras. A USA Today investigation found Tellis searched for a single vehicle’s location more than 200 times using the city’s cameras.
Keep it real
Sandusky Police Chief Jared Oliver is not apologizing for wanting to equip the city with cameras. It’s the job of the police department to evaluate every opportunity to protect residents with top-level tools the city can afford and that bring return on the investment, according to the chief. These cameras represent that top-level, and give police an important crimefighting tool. It’s up to city commission to provide the funding, he said; it’s up to the department to make equipment recommendations. It’s also the department’s job to manage and assure the equipment is not misused or used in a way that violates anyone’s right to privacy.
That’s expected and the department imposes the highest standards of oversight for all department-issued equipment, including service weapons, Tasers, body cameras, cruiser cameras and flock cameras, he said.
If an official or officer misuses local surveillance tools or connected networks for personal reasons—such as tracking an ex-partner, a political opponent, or a target of personal interest—it crosses into criminal liability.
Under Ohio law, accessing law enforcement databases like LEADS or OHLEG for unauthorized purposes is a fifth-degree felony (O.R.C. § 2913.04). Beyond computer crimes, using public authority to electronically monitor or harass someone triggers state charges like Menacing by Stalking (O.R.C. § 2903.211) and Dereliction of Duty (O.R.C. § 2921.44), alongside federal charges for Deprivation of Civil Rights Under Color of Law (18 U.S.C. § 242) for Fourth Amendment violations.
Scaling
The cold, hard metrics are in the purchase order approved by a unanimous commission vote on Aug. 24. According to independent surveillance tracking by DeFlock, Sandusky now ranks #18 out of 555 Ohio cities for license plate reader density, with 44 Flock Safety cameras operating in and around the city. On Milan Road alone, drivers pass through a gauntlet of 15 automated readers—data that is hooked into a sharing network with 80 outside agencies.
For Unzicker and others concerned about privacy, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution, commissioners are brushing off their constitutional oversight. The result is local residents are subjected to top-tier surveillance, disguised as routine local policy.
The purchase order city commission approved is a 5-year, $161,792 contract with Axon Enterprise. The deal deploys 9 live-streaming Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras and 3 solar-powered units embedded with AI edge-computing (Ubihub 2.0) and additional license plate recognition software. These feeds integrate into Axon’s Fusus platform, linking Sandusky’s parks, waterfronts, and commercial districts directly into regional and national hotlists.
As state lawmakers move to restrict license plate tracking and major hubs like Columbus pull the plug over police misuse, Sandusky is doubling down. With 2 million visitors pouring into the city in season, city officials and police are confident this can be accomplished without compromising residents.
For others with concerns, like Unzicker, the see the city getting locked into multi-year vendor contracts and blanketing city streets in AI cameras— a quiet, unchecked rollout of mass surveillance—disguised as public safety.
Ohio Capital Journal contributed to this story
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