There has been a lot of discussion around Flock Cameras being used in the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County.
The community has privacy concerns, surveillance fears, misuse cases, political pressure, civil liberties advocacy.
Milwaukee needs Flock cameras for one core reason because they solve violent crimes fast, but only if the city keeps them tightly controlled, audited, and used exclusively for serious public safety threats. That’s the real balance Milwaukee is trying to implement right now.
MPD currently has 31 cameras deployed across the city. The county has 42 cameras permitted on county parkland.
The community has been left out of the conversation and that has left some people debating whether the police need policing or should the changes Mayor Cavalier Johnson and County Executive David Crowley announced be implemented.
Flock cameras are automated license plate readers (ALPRs) made by Flock Safety that capture vehicle details and build searchable movement databases.
“MPD has agreed to create a publicly available dashboard providing the community information about the Department’s use of Flock camera technology,” said Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffery Norman.
Who will be monitoring this database since MPD says they are short staff? Will the database be updated in real time?
Secondly, information Milwaukee says working with other law enforcement agencies will not be available if Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s changes go into effect.
“MPD has agreed to further limit access to Flock cameras by restricting access to Milwaukee’s cameras only to MPD,” he said. “We will no longer share data access with surrounding jurisdictions.”
Our Editor-In-Chief Dan O’Donnell reported on the restrictions.
Other enforcement agencies should have access to our Flock cameras. Why would they refuse to help other agencies? We are trying to protect the public and other agencies need to be a part of crime solving. We need to help them with crimes and crime prevention.
Over 200 Wisconsin law enforcement agencies use Flock cameras, meaning Milwaukee benefits from a statewide network when suspects flee across jurisdictions.
We need to be cooperating with every law enforcement agency to ensure that we are protecting citizens and possibly preventing other crime. Sometimes criminals don’t stay within city limits. They cross city lines all the time.
Regional cooperation is how modern policing works. Milwaukee shouldn’t be an island unto itself.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley issued a directive to County departments and the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office to limit Flock camera operations on county property and evaluate and adopt transparency and accountability standards.
“A consistent, countywide standard will help ensure that residents are protected from unchecked surveillance no matter where they live, work, or travel within Milwaukee County,” he said Tuesday. “That is why I am directing all County departments to limit the usage of all Flock camera systems and establish safeguards proactively, before a breach of public trust can occur.”
However the program IS working and oversight is working as intended. There were only three incidents of misuse and misconduct. The persons who were involved are being reprimanded and fired. Some people were even criminally charged.
The question is why elected officials are responding to three misuse cases as if the entire system is broken?
The system worked. The guardrails held. The misuse was exposed.
“Flock cameras have proven to be a valuable investigative tool for officers working to solve crimes and protect the people of Milwaukee. We appreciate that the City’s response recognizes the difference between misuse of a tool and the legitimate use of that tool by the overwhelming majority of officers who follow the rules,” said Milwaukee Police Association President Alexander Ayala in a separate statement.
“MPD said it honed its audit process to find possible bad actors after the first misuse investigation, which is how they found the next two.”
So the system is working and “bad actors” have been caught. The oversight for the flock camera system is operating. The mayor and the county executive are overreacting due to public pressure.
Why aren’t we exploring the system and then see if the Flock system is working as intended. Flock cameras are solving crimes as well as preventing crimes. Why aren’t the mayor and county executive investigating the progress of the cameras and what crimes were solved by the flock cameras?
Milwaukee is drowning in vehicle‑driven crime. reckless driving, stolen cars, hit‑and‑runs, and fleeing suspects. Flock cameras directly target these problems. and Flock cameras assist with identifying criminals and solving crimes much faster than the police responses. Flock cameras help police solve crimes that otherwise wouldn’t have been solved because police do not always have the same reach as the cameras.
“I recognize the benefits of the Flock cameras system,” Mayor Johnson explained. “On multiple occasions this tool has located critical missing persons and helped apprehend violent criminals in Milwaukee. The technology has also been misused in several notable instances, both locally and nationally, compromising the rights of individuals.
“Changes in the way the Milwaukee Police Department uses Flock cameras are necessary and appropriate.”
Some alders are debating the use of the Flock Camera system do we really need this technology or not. They are also evaluating the mayor’s proposal.
Those changes “include restricting Flock data access to only Milwaukee Police supervisors, creating a publicly available dashboard on the department’s use of the technology, and only using the cameras for “Part 1” or violent crimes, drug trafficking, and missing persons or abduction cases.”
Residents have Ring cameras, doorbell cams, and phones recording everything. We already live in a surveillance‑heavy world, but at least those tools help solve crimes. Other residents are supporting the mayor’s guardrails and they are interested in the database that MPD officials are working on.
Flock cameras technology has been helpful and there were only a few instances of abuse.
We should have more input in this matter. The public should have more information on the Flock cameras so that we can assess the impact of the cameras and their effects on the citywide community.
Milwaukee deserves safety. Milwaukee deserves accountability. Milwaukee deserves technology that works for us, not against us. And right now, Flock cameras are one of the few tools actually doing their job.
