A small group of protesters gathered around Bascom Hall Tuesday afternoon, calling on the UW administration to ban the use of Flock cameras on the University of Madison campus.
The “No Flock! No ICE on Campus Rally” was hosted by students and staff of the Madison Students for Democratic Society, United Faculty and Staff, Mecha de Teejop and the ICE Out UW Coalition.
Local organizing groups have questioned the ability of Immigration Customs and Enforcement authorities in the state to utilize the cameras in immigration cases. This demonstration comes in response to that concern, Co-Chair of SDS Bradley Keenan said.
According to a website published by the UW-Madison Police Department, the Flock cameras are not used to track vehicles for immigration enforcement. The site lists that the main purposes of the cameras are to aid in investigations, track missing or endangered persons, identify vehicles that pose a safety risks and provide alerts.
But, students shared concerns regarding privacy.
“I don’t believe that infrastructure should be on campus at all. I don’t think we should have AI surveillance tools tracking students or faculty,” Keenan said.
There are currently eight flock cameras located across the UW campus, according to the UWPD site. Flock safety uses an automated license plate reader camera at the intersection of University Bay Drive and Lake Mendota Drive, according to a memo published by University Apartments Community Police Officer Jeff Kirchman.
As of early March, at least nine Wisconsin counties have entered into 287(g) warrant service officer agreements with ICE — allowing collaboration of varying degrees between the organizations, according to the ACLU of Wisconsin. Dane County is not a part of those. In 2018, former Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney declined to enter into an agreement after being contacted by ICE, according to the CapTimes.
The cameras are not equipped with facial recognition technology and are used to capture data on vehicles, not individuals, according to Kirchman’s memo. Access to data collected by Flock cameras is restricted to UWPD personnel and is only shared after authorization with other Wisconsin agencies upon their request, according to Kirchman’s memo.
In an emailed statement, UWPD’s Executive Director of Communications Marc Lovicott said the department is committed to conversing with people that are against the cameras.
“We remain open to conversations with those individuals — and others — to share how valuable these tools are in keeping our community safe,” Lovicott said in the email.
SDS member who spoke at the rally Lizbeth de Jesus said the presence of Flock camera data with ICE agencies in the state makes UW students feel unsafe.
“When I was starting to study and live on campus, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, it was promised to me that I would be safe in this area,” de Jesus said. “However, as a child of immigrant parents, a student of color and a motivated student who desires education. That hope was stolen from me. I am speaking for many other students, not only myself. If the university claims to prioritize the students or the staff’s safety, why are they still refusing to revoke the cameras that abuse our identity?”
The rally builds upon previous actions by SDS calling on university administration to make UW a Sanctuary Campus — following the murder of Alex Pretti and continued ICE presence across the country, according to Keenan.
Xander Godar, a member of Socialist Alternative and ICE OUT UW Coalition, closed the rally with a speech.
“We can’t have our focus set on one protest at a time,” Godar said. “We need to build mass movements to accomplish these sizable tasks of getting rid of ICE and Flock. But that movement must be democratic with forms for working people to debate, discuss and decide the trajectory of the movement.”
As of 5 p.m. of March 25, university leadership did not respond to request for comment.
