Elgin Community College hired Flock Safety in April 2025 to install six surveillance cameras on its far west suburban Chicago campus. Within months, college officials wanted them gone. Students were afraid to come to class, and administrators decided the cameras had to go.
More than half of the student body at Elgin Community College identifies as Latino, according to WBEZ, and the college had experienced a dip in enrollment. College president Peggy Heinrich said the school wanted students focused on learning and was doing everything possible to make campus feel safe. In October 2025, Elgin staff formally notified Flock that they wanted to cancel the contract and remove the equipment out of caution for students. Flock rejected the request within a day and refused to uninstall the cameras, Heinrich said.
The standoff dragged on. College officials reached out again in December 2025, this time offering to pay for the remaining five months of the contract just to get the cameras removed. Flock never responded, according to the same report. With no resolution in sight, Elgin staff began covering the cameras themselves, using black trash bags and zip ties — only to have workers in an unmarked vehicle repeatedly show up and strip the coverings away.
Cameras Finally Come Down When the Contract Expires
The impasse didn’t end until Elgin Community College’s Flock contract expired in April 2026, at which point the company uninstalled the cameras for good. Flock, which retains ownership of its equipment even while installed on client campuses, said it had not breached its agreement with the college, per the same account. The company did not respond to WBEZ’s request for comment on the broader dispute…