We have two important events on Monday, the OSEA Bargaining Session at 5pm and The Eugene City Council Meeting at 7 pm where we will be speaking out against the FLOCK Surveillance System that EPD quietly rolled out so they can keep tabs on us all.
OSEA Bargaining Session – Fighting for the Safety.
This Monday, September 9 at 5:00 PM, the Oregon School Employees Association (OSEA) will be at the bargaining table with the Eugene 4J School District – and they need our community behind them. The session will be held at 200 North Monroe in Eugene.
OSEA is bargaining over safety articles that directly impact staff and students. Aggressive behaviors are at an all-time high. The challenge is especially serious in classrooms serving our most vulnerable children — students with special needs and developmental disabilities.
The problem is not the children. Education Assistants and staff understand the challenges and supports needed to help these kids thrive. The problem is the district’s refusal to provide those supports. Instead of addressing the issue, 4J makes reporting incidents as difficult as possible, sweeping problems under the rug to make their numbers look better. This puts both staff and children at risk.
The union is asking for basic, common-sense safety measures, including:
- A simple online one-stop system for reporting incidents.
- Adequate staffing and training to keep both workers and children safe.
- Protections so staff aren’t left feeling like it’s “their job to get beaten up.”
One education assistant shared:
“I’ve been attacked by kids but I can mostly handle it, it’s mostly hard mentally. But I had coworkers who were in tears in the break room last year because they “feel like it’s their job to get beaten up.” I know I’ve heard similar things from other sped and Significant Needs Education Assistants, it’s a problem that affects hundreds of workers”
This is about doing what’s right: ensuring that the district provides the tools and supports necessary to protect staff and children alike.
Let’s pack the bargaining room on Monday and show the district that our community supports OSEA in their fight for safety, dignity, and care for our children.
Where: 200 North Monroe Street, Eugene
When: Monday, September 9 at 5:00 PM
Together, we can make sure workers and children are protected. Join us!
Crash the Council Meeting: Get the FLOC out of Eugene
We’re asking community members to show up at this Monday’s Eugene City Council Meeting and speak out against the FLOCK surveillance system quietly rolled out by the police. Council meetings are hybrid; in-person testimony happens at the address above (and you can submit written comments if you can’t attend).
Why this matters:
Across the country, FLOCK Group Inc. is building a nationwide, searchable database of people’s movements, accessible to law enforcement far beyond local control. Civil-liberties groups warn this functions as mass surveillance, enabling tracking of where we worship, organize, get medical care, or visit friends—often without a warrant, oversight, or clear limits.
- A serious risk is who might get access to FLOCK data in the future. The company claims it doesn’t sell data, but because FLOCK controls the servers and national database, nothing prevents them from changing that policy or making corporate deals later. We’ve already seen FLOCK data shared with federal agencies like DHS and immigration enforcement despite local promises to the contrary. The reality is that there is nothing to stop this system from one day being opened up to insurers, debt collectors, or private investigators, turning our community’s movements into a product to be sold.
- Another danger of the FLOCK system is that it is prone to mistakes. Automated license plate readers frequently misread plates or misidentify vehicles, which can trigger false alerts. Across the country, innocent drivers have been pulled over—sometimes at gunpoint—because a camera confused one car for another. These errors create the risk of dangerous encounters between police and average citizens who have done nothing wrong, adding trauma and fear instead of safety.
- We also have to ask: can we really trust EPD not to misuse or share this data? Even if local officers promise restraint, what happens when the system makes a mistake? If FLOCK misidentifies a license plate and flags someone as a drug dealer or kidnapper, that could mean an innocent driver—someone’s grandma on her way home from church—ends up with a gun in her face. These errors are not hypothetical; they’ve happened in other communities. Without transparency, oversight, and limits, the risks fall on ordinary people who have done nothing wrong.
Demand our City Council:
- Suspend FLOCK use immediately and End the contract and invest in proven, non-surveillance safety strategies.
Event details:
Where: City Hall Council Chambers, 500 E. 4th Ave, Eugene
When: Monday, Sept 8, 7:00 PM (arrive by 6:30 PM to sign up to speak)
Can’t attend? Send comments to mayorcouncilandcitymanager@eugene-or.gov before the meeting so they enter the public record. Be sure to include your name and ward if you know it. Eugene, OR Official Website
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