The university will be moving forward in its goal to install Flock cameras.
University Police and UB Facilities department are working with contractors and local utilities to determine locations for the 20 cameras that would be installed during a 60-day trial period, the university told The Spectrum Monday.
No cameras have been installed on-campus as of yet, and UB does not have an anticipated date of when the trial will begin, officials said.
“The university community will be kept apprised during this process,” the statement read.
A UB Facilities staff member — who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation — said that the department has not received any drawings or design updates for review after UPD’s initial submission was returned due to a lack of information.
UPD had started to consider Flock cameras — short-hand for artificial intelligence-assisted License Plate Readers manufactured by Flock Safety — since this summer as a “more robust” tool for vehicle-related crimes. The cameras would be located at various entrances and exits.
LPRs scan license plate numbers, document vehicle characteristics and record the time and location as a vehicle passes.
The university already put LPRs not owned by Flock Safety to use in fall 2023, where the cameras are mounted on parking enforcement vehicles to check for valid permits and issue parking tickets. And local agencies don’t shy away from them either — Amherst Police oversees two LPRs on UB campuses, while the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority runs a camera at University Station’s park-and-ride lot.
Flock cameras have had rampant public criticism over instances of police misuse, and law enforcement agencies conducting searches on behalf of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement despite Flock policy that denies federal access.
UB will be opting out of Flock Safety’s national database system, citing New York State prohibitions on assisting ICE for civil immigration enforcement, including the sharing of vehicle data. Data captured by cameras is deleted after seven days and the cameras themselves do not track individuals per Flock policy.
But critics on-campus are unconvinced by the university’s reassurances.
A UB community petition against the Flock camera installations had drawn over 800 signatures so far, demanding President Caroline Genco to “abandon the University’s plan to install Flock automated license plate reader cameras on its three campuses.” A group of protesters from Buffalo’s chapter of SUNY BDS — an unrecognized group that organizes pro-Palestine protests — had hand-delivered a letter of grievance on the issue to Chief of Staff Beth Del Genio Tuesday.
“We view the proliferation of surveillance technologies as a direct threat to academic freedom, civil liberties, freedom of association, and privacy, not to mention our very lives,” the petition read. “The danger posed by increased surveillance far outweighs any benefit that the University might gain from collecting data on vehicles and people within our community.”
During a meeting on Sept. 30, the undergraduate Student Association Senate — which advocates on behalf of the student body — unanimously voted to pass a resolution that condemned the Flock camera installations until a "comprehensive student consultation process has occurred.
“We know it’s going to happen and it can happen at any moment,” SA 2026-27 Vice President for Advocacy Na’Dia Carter told senators at a meeting. “We want to get ahead of the problem beforehand.”
SA has been in contact with the Faculty Senate, which has also presented the community petition to Genco, and is working on meeting with University Police on the issue.
“SA will continue to advocate against their implementation, as we believe there are significant concerns regarding the potential impact these cameras could have on the university community,” Carter wrote in a text to The Spectrum. “Students should know that SA is actively advocating for them on this issue and will continue to use every avenue available to us to represent student concerns.”
Logan Carlin and Elizabeth Camacho contributed to the reporting of this article.
Aiden Dickerson is the senior news editor and can be reached at aiden.dickerson@ubspectrum.com.
Mylien Lai is the editor in chief and can be reached at mylien.lai@ubspectrum.com.
Mylien Lai is the editor-in-chief at The Spectrum. Outside of getting lost in Buffalo, she enjoys practicing the piano and being a bean plant mom. She can be found at @mylien.lai on Instagram.
Photo: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics
