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The city of Sheboygan could be the latest Wisconsin community to cut ties with Flock Safety, the company behind a license plate reader camera system.
Local officials in places like Oshkosh, Sturgeon Bay, Appleton, Verona and Dane County have already cut ties with the company. It comes as opponents of the technology have raised privacy concerns and worries about how the data can be accessed and shared.
Sheboygan’s police chief and city administrator plan to ask the common council to terminate the police department’s contract with Flock Safety during an upcoming meeting, according to an Aug. 25 statement.
The statement said the police department has been using automated license plate reader technology for over 10 years, while 15 Flock Safety cameras have been used since 2024.
“ALPR (automated license plate reader) technology and Flock-captured data have been successfully used to solve several serious criminal cases in the City,” the statement said.
The data from the license plate reader cameras can be accessed by other law enforcement agencies. And there has been a history of misuse of the technology by police officers in Wisconsin.
Last month, the police department “became aware of actions by Flock Safety believed to be inconsistent with the terms and expectations of the City’s contract and which undermine trust in the services provided,” according to the statement.
“The Police Department confirmed the circumstances and will therefore ask the Common Council to terminate the contract,” the statement said.
Sheboygan Police Chief Kurt Zempel said the use of technology “is an important part of our effectiveness in providing justice and safety for our community.”
“But as with any system that involves access to powerful technology or sensitive information, strong internal controls and community trust are vital,” Zempel said. “That trust must extend to the partners who provide those services.”
The common council could vote to terminate the contract during a Sept. 8 meeting. Sheboygan Mayor Ryan Sorenson said public works staff have wrapped the cameras in plastic ahead of that meeting.
Sorenson said he supports the decision by the police chief and city administrator.
“Fundamentally, this is a bigger conversation that you’re seeing across the country,” Sorenson said. “And when you have powerful AI tools, we want to make sure that our community feels safe and trusted.”
Sorenson said the police chief has told him the technology has been used to help solve a few crimes.
“The crux of the decision that we’re making on this primarily comes from an erosion of trust from Flock itself and how they were using our data,” Sorenson said.
Sheboygan Ald. Susie Boorse, the common council president, said she also has concerns around the data usage related to the technology.
“I guess it boils down to the fact that we just can’t be too careful about how our data is being used,” Boorse said. “And in the end, while we obviously want public safety to be a priority, I think that we have to make those judgment calls about the way that we go about doing that, to the best of our capabilities.”
Flock cameras have been vandalized in more than 30 states, according to an NPR report. In Wisconsin, police in Waukesha recently reported a Flock camera there was damaged.
Meanwhile, Brookfield Ald. Catherine Kahler is asking the city to “review its use of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology and participation in the Flock Safety network before our current agreement automatically renews in July 2027,” according to an Aug. 26 statement.
“I think we should understand how information collected through the system can be accessed and shared, what rights the vendor has regarding that information, how the technology and its capabilities are evolving, and whether our existing safeguards and oversight are sufficient,” Kahler said in the statement. “I also think it is appropriate to consider the implications of using public funds to participate in a privately operated system of this scale.”
Letter from Milwaukee council members calls for further reforms
This week, members of the Milwaukee Common Council sent a letter to Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman and the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, or FPC, about the use of the camera system by the police department.
It comes after the department announced changes to department access to the system and changes to its audit process this year. Those changes were made after a former Milwaukee police officer was charged with using the system to check the location of the vehicle of the person he was dating and that person’s ex.
The letter requested the commission look into more reforms related to the system and asked for a “complete history of all searches conducted by outside agencies using MPD camera data or conducted by MPD officers on behalf of outside agencies.”
It also asked that a policy be adopted to suspend access to the Flock system, “when there is credible evidence of intentional personal or unauthorized use.”
“This is an urgent moment, and a problem that will not correct itself,” the letter said.
In response to that letter, a spokesperson for the department said MPD “respects and values the concerns and positions of our elected officials.”
“We will work with the FPC to address our Council members’ concerns and respond to the Council after we have carefully reviewed their request and can provide a factual and thoughtful response,” the statement said. “The exchange of information, positions and ideas between MPD and our elected officials is important as we both serve the same community. MPD is committed to transparency and engaging in important dialogue such as this.”
This story was originally published by WPR.
Flock Safety cameras in Sheboygan covered up by city is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
