Here & Now

The Rise of and Opposition to Flock Cameras in Wisconsin

Frederica Freyberg:
Finally tonight, you’ve probably driven past one but may not have noticed it. Automated license plate readers or ALPR cameras are small and usually found near stoplights and street signs on roads and intersections across the country. These cameras have grown in popularity and in controversy over recent years. “Here & Now” reporter Steven Potter looked into their use around Wisconsin.

Steven Potter:
There’s nothing flashy about ALPR cameras, and that’s on purpose. These automated license plate reading devices sit inconspicuously, usually on a pole and under a solar panel. They automatically read your license plate and retain an image of your car with a date and a time stamp of when you went past it. That information and image is then sent off to the law enforcement agency that contracted with the company that operates the cameras. They’re commonly called Flock cameras, after the most popular brand that makes and deploys the devices. According to groups that track them, there are an estimated 130,000 such cameras in the United States. In Wisconsin, it’s estimated there are as many as 2,000 of the cameras used by more than 200 law enforcement agencies. But over the last couple of years, Flock and other similar companies have been catching flak from opponents concerned about privacy. Calling them tools of mass surveillance that operate without a warrant, critics say the cameras invade an individual’s privacy before and without prior knowledge of any crime being committed. Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union calls the cameras creepy and says that the storage of images and information in national databases lacks regulation. Opposition to the cameras is showing up in Wisconsin, with reports of them being vandalized and taken down. And many governments around Wisconsin are taking action against them. So far, Dane County, as well as cities such as Fitchburg, Stoughton, Monona and others, have stopped, canceled or not renewed contracts with the Flock Safety Company. And in the city of Verona, officials put bags over the Flock cameras after the company didn’t move fast enough to remove them. The largest user of Flock cameras in Wisconsin is the City of Milwaukee Police Department. Cases of misuse of the technology by people with access to the cameras are also cropping up. In mid-August, a Menasha police officer was sentenced for using Flock cameras for illegal surveillance, and two Milwaukee police officers have been criminally charged with illegally tracking people using the cameras. Those who are in favor of these cameras and tracking devices say they are an invaluable law enforcement tool that helps apprehend those who commit crimes of all kinds, ranging from driving infractions to car theft and more serious offenses.