Pause
Stop using the township-funded cameras while the records and policies are made public.
Pause. Disclose. Remove.
Liberty Township is paying for cameras that track everyone. Residents deserve a say.
Butler Privacy Project is a resident-led effort for transparency and accountability on the automated license plate reader cameras funded in Liberty Township and used across Butler County.
This is not anti-police. We back real investigations. We just don't think a private company should hold a searchable record of where ordinary people drive, with no public vote and no independent check.
The core distinction
A deputy spotting one plate on one road is not the same as a database that remembers where your car has been for months.
Right now: records requests are filed and a resident petition is underway.
The ask: pause the cameras, turn off outside sharing, release the records, and vote in public on whether to keep them.
What is the issue?
Liberty Township is paying for automated license plate reader cameras that photograph vehicles as they move through the community. Local reporting stated that the township was adding 10 Flock rear license plate readers at an annual cost of about $30,000, with the cost added to its payments to the Butler County Sheriff's Office. The current cost, contract terms, renewal status, and camera count remain pending records responses.
These cameras don't just flag suspects. They log the movements of everyone who drives past, and that information sits in a searchable database run by a private company. Most of the people in it have done nothing wrong.
A township-wide tracking system is not routine equipment. Before it keeps running, residents should get straight answers about the contract, who can search the data, and how that use is checked, along with a public vote.
What we're asking the Trustees to do
Disclose
Release the contract, invoices, policies, sharing settings, and audit records, including who outside the township can search the data.
Remove
Vote in public to end or not renew the Flock program and take down the township-funded cameras.
Why it matters
It records everyone
The cameras capture ordinary residents, workers, and visitors, not just people under investigation.
It builds a history
One plate read is one moment. A stored, searchable database is a map of where your car has been over time.
Residents never agreed
A tracking system this broad deserved public notice, real debate, and a trustee vote before it went in.
Outside access is unclear
Residents should know exactly which agencies can pull Liberty-funded data, under what rules, and how those searches are audited.
Records may be shielded
Ohio law may keep the raw plate data itself out of public view, which makes disclosure of the contract, policies, and audits even more important.
Security is a real risk
A private surveillance database is a target. Expanding one without independent review and strict access controls invites trouble.
Why Butler County is different
Liberty's cameras are funded through the Butler County Sheriff's Office, which is one of only four Ohio agencies holding both a Flock contract and a 287(g) immigration agreement with ICE. Its deputies were the first in Ohio cleared to act on immigration during routine traffic stops.
We are not saying Liberty's data has been misused. We are saying residents deserve to see the sharing settings in writing before the cameras go in, because the risk here is documented, not hypothetical.
What's happened elsewhere in Ohio
Liberty Township doesn't have to wait for its own problem before answering basic questions. Other Ohio communities already have.
Suspended · 2026
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton suspended its 72 Flock cameras on May 1, 2026 and covered them, after finding its data had been shared far beyond policy. Released logs showed about 7,150 immigration-related searches by more than 140 outside agencies, over half by U.S. Border Patrol. Per those logs, the Butler County Sheriff's Office ran six immigration-related searches since 2023. The city called it 'egregious violations of policy.'
Dayton Daily News Rejected · 2025
Kent, Ohio
Kent City Council voted on Nov. 5, 2025 against letting the police department enter a Flock contract, citing privacy and data-sharing concerns. An Ohio community reviewed the program and chose not to fund it.
The Portager Renewal blocked · 2026
Cleveland, Ohio
In June 2026, a Cleveland City Council committee voted 3-1 against extending the city's $250,000 Flock contract, with members questioning whether the cameras were actually improving public safety.
Signal ClevelandMore Ohio examples and full sourcing are on the Evidence page.
Where things stand
Records requests filed
3
Sent to
Liberty Township & the Sheriff's Office
Next meeting
Typically 1st & 3rd Tue, 6:00 p.m.
Current phase
Records requests filed
Last updated July 8, 2026.
Ask Liberty Township to pause, disclose, and remove.
Add your name and help make this a public decision instead of a quiet renewal.