A wave of Wisconsin law enforcement agencies announced suspensions of use of Flock cameras Sept. 4, in the latest blow against the controversial technology.
At least a dozen Wisconsin law enforcement agencies – including the Racine County Sheriff’s Office and Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office – announced suspensions of the use of the company Flock Safety’s car-tracking cameras.
Those came as officials said it was revealed the company had been collecting five years of traffic data, which had been stripped of identifying information, from cities’ Flock cameras and re-packaging that as a traffic analytics product to sell to cities. All said they supported the effectiveness of the technology in investigations, but cited losing faith in the company’s trustworthiness.
“This is not what we agreed to, and it is not what the public was led to believe,” said Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling in a news release announcing the removal of Flock cameras operated by the agency. “The Sheriff’s Office will not participate in a system that appears to use public safety as a justification for mass surveillance and the collection and monetization of information about innocent people.”
Other concerns arose as some agencies, like Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office, said they learned their search data, including those stemming from ongoing investigations, had been revealed in open records requests in other states. Wisconsin open records law typically exempts records from active investigations from release.
Flock is a network of cameras that log vehicle license plates and allow law enforcement to search a database that tracks where the vehicles were spotted. The company Flock Safety has faced months of criticism as dozens of instances of officer misuse – including many in Wisconsin – emerged in the last year, along with concerns over the company itself.
Flock Safety did not immediately respond to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel request for comment on the cancellations.
Flock cameras along North Water Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. – Sarah Richardson / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The cancellations come as, earlier this week, officials in Sheboygan announced they were moving to cancel the city’s contract due to a contract dispute.
That prompted Racine County officials to investigate whether the same issue was arising there, said Lt. Michael Luell, the sheriff’s public information officer. They reached out to Flock and the company confirmed it had done the same with their data.
Officials were told the company believed if it stripped the data of any identifiable nature it was then considered to be the company’s property and no longer the city’s. Luell said the sheriff’s office has outside attorneys, along with the county’s attorneys, investigating the company’s move.
“Our contract, from my reading of it is, it stated they agreed not to distribute or sell our data,” Luell told the Journal Sentinel. “But they had this legal theory.”
A spokesperson for Milwaukee’s Department of Public Works said she was not aware of Flock Safety representatives attempting to pitch any traffic data sale to the city.
The suspensions of Flock camera use throughout the state come as Milwaukee has contended with its own use of the system frequently praised by law enforcement officials for its effectiveness in assisting with investigations.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and the Milwaukee Police Department announced an overhaul of how the system is used on Aug. 31. The next day, Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office announced its own and the state’s two gubernatorial candidates voiced their own opposition to the technology.
Those changes were met coldly by residents who asked for the contract to be canceled entirely at a Sept. 3 public meeting.
On Sept. 4, the sheriff’s office and police department launched a public dashboard detailing some statistics on its use of Flock cameras.
The Sept. 4 announcements from agencies suspending the use of the Flock cameras, and others earlier in the week, prompted Milwaukee County Supervisor Justin Bielinski, who chairs the county’s Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and General Services Committee, to call on Sheriff Denita Ball to disable and cover the county’s 42 Flock cameras.
“Even if you have confidence in the Sheriff’s Department’s use of Flock, the question remains: do we trust Flock itself with this information?” Bielinski said in a statement. “The responsible course is to end this contract now, determine exactly what information has been collected, and establish clear public safeguards before Milwaukee County considers using this technology again.”
A Milwaukee police spokesperson and a Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson both did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The following agencies announced cancellations of Flock use Sept. 4.
Menasha Police Department
Fox Crossing Police Department
Winneconne Police Department
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Police Department
Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office
Fond du Lac Police Department
North Fond du Lac Police Department
Racine County Sheriff’s Office
Stevens Point Police Department
In recent months, cities like Appleton, Oshkosh and Kenosha had also previously announced cancelations of Flock contracts.
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A dozen Wisconsin police agencies announce Flock suspensions
