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More than 160 immigration-related searches appeared in Cleveland’s Flock camera audit logs over a 30-day period — months after the city says it turned on protections designed to block such searches. City officials say the fault isn’t theirs. It’s Flock’s. The records include dozens of searches explicitly referencing “I.C.E.” and other immigration-related searches. But Cleveland officials contend those searches did not hit the city’s traffic camera system at all and that immigration searches have been blocked since November. 0:01 / 0:15 Instead, the city says drones purchased for Cleveland fire and EMS were accidentally swept into Flock Safety’s national network and were then pinged when police departments across the country ran immigration-related searches. The drones are part of Cleveland’s new “Drone as First Responder” program that sends fire and EMS drones ahead of crews to gather information from scenes. Jamil Hairston, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, told cleveland.com that Flock mistakenly classified those drones as part of its nationwide search network for a few days, causing them to appear in immigration-related searches run by departments in Texas and Florida. The drones cannot collect license-plate data, he said, and the police department’s drones were not included in the error. “This very much was a simple mix-up on behalf of Flock,” Hairston said. “But we would like to clarify that there was no lapse in the protection of residents’ data or other information. ... I can say unequivocally that the license-plate reader cameras for the city of Cleveland were not pinged in the nationwide lookup search from the audit log you received,” Hairston added. The “data fluke,” as Hairston describes it, raises questions both about the safeguards Cleveland has in place and the city’s ability to monitor its data and make sure police departments across the country aren’t subverting those safeguards. Among the immigration-related searches, the audit logs also show thousands of ambiguous searches labeled as “other-investigation” or even “other-other.” While agencies nationwide ping Cleveland’s network close to one million times each month, tens of thousands of those searches provide little detail about why the search was initiated. Bryn Adams, a spokesperson for the “Flock No” group pushing Cleveland to end its relationship with Flock, called the revelations “horrifying and upsetting.” Presented with Cleveland’s explanation, Adams remained skeptical. “I don’t even know if I follow that explanation, let alone buy it.” Flock Safety has yet to respond to cleveland.com’s questions or reaffirm Cleveland’s drone explanation. Cleveland installed 100 Flock cameras across the city in 2023. The automatic license plate readers capture images of vehicles that pass by, creating a searchable database police use to track where and when a vehicle was seen. Mayor Justin Bibb has often defended these cameras, and technology more broadly, as tools Cleveland needs to fight violent crime, recover stolen vehicles and help find missing people. But audit logs, which keep track of every nationwide search that accesses data captured by Cleveland’s Flock cameras, show immigration searches that Bibb and his public safety officials repeatedly assured the public could not happen. Records show 163 searches between Dec. 28 and January 27 that cite “immigration” as the reason for the search. Of those, 55 were listed as “civil.” Few searches came from police departments in Ohio. Many came from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Texas Department of Public Safety — both agencies participate in the federal 287(g) program, which allows local officers to perform immigration enforcement functions in coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Florida fish and wildlife commission specifically labeled their searches with “I.C.E.” The records do not specify whether outside agencies actually retrieved information from Cleveland’s data or merely queried the system and pinged Cleveland-connected devices as part of broader nationwide searches. Each line of the audit lists the number of networks searched, and sometimes agencies ping thousands of cities’ data as part of a nationwide search. Cleveland.com has requested audit logs dating back to 2023 but, as of Wednesday, had only received records from 2026. City officials said Cleveland opted into Flock’s immigration-search filter on Nov. 17, a safeguard designed to block queries tied to immigration enforcement. The searches occurred weeks after Cleveland says it activated the filter. Public safety officials have told cleveland.com that immigration searches couldn’t happen, and they keep logs of every search run on the city’s Flock cameras and regularly audit them to make sure safeguards remain in place. Hairston would not answer questions about why it took months for officials to notice immigration searches in the audit logs. Questions from cleveland.com sent city officials into meetings with Flock to try to determine what happened. The city’s explanation involving the drones did not come until late Tuesday. Even as officials worked behind the scenes to explain the immigration-related searches, Public Safety Director Wayne Drummond publicly repeated assurances Tuesday that safeguards preventing such searches remained in place. At a summit announcing summer safety plans, Drummond said “No one can search our system right now. Police, immigration related activities, that’s the safeguard that the chief worked out with Flock, who’s obviously our vendor.” But Councilman Tanmay Shah, a vocal critic of Flock, pointed out that the apparent glitch raises questions about the city’s oversight, noting that the searches went unnoticed for months despite the city’s promises that the system was being carefully monitored and audited. “It’s really disappointing, and it’s hard to trust this administration at their word because it turns out to not be true with a very simple search,” Shah said. Cleveland’s Flock data debacle comes as Ohio cities face questions about whether Flock’s safeguards against immigration enforcement actually work. Both Shaker Heights and Dayton recently came under scrutiny after records showed their networks were searched for immigration enforcement purposes despite city policies meant to prevent that. In Shaker Heights, activists uncovered hundreds of immigration-related searches, and city officials later acknowledged the filter had not been turned on. The city has since activated the safeguard. Dayton shut down its Flock camera system indefinitely after 7,100 immigration-related searches pinged the city’s network. An internal investigation found staff failed to properly implement the city’s guardrails. The Flock No group has stated that even if searches explicitly listing “immigration” were blocked, they still don’t trust the system. The group has long pointed to concerns of a “side door” method, where ICE asks a local police department to make searches on their behalf. And because the system allows for searches that cite “other-other” or “other-investigation,” as justification for querying the system, there’s no real accountability, Adams said. “The reality is anyone could lie to get around this immigration filter,” Adams said. Hairston said public safety officials would address questions about the ambiguous “other searches” at a future city council meeting. Bibb, while still supporting Flock, decided this week to put the question of whether to renew the city’s contract to a vote of council, even though he could renew it without council approval and go to the city’s Board of Control. The contract expires on June 28, but Public Safety Committee Chair Mike Polensek said he’s in “no rush.” Polensek said he’s pro-police and wants to equip the department with technology to fight violent crimes. But he does not want the Flock system used for immigration searches. If thousands of ambiguous searches say “other,” perhaps the city’s new contract should ban those searches from happening, he said. Adams said that if Cleveland officials are serious about keeping Flock cameras from being misused, the city’s only real option is to stop using the technology altogether