UWM Removing Its Flock Cameras

Flock Safety license plate readers are typically mounted on tall poles, with a camera and solar panel on top. The company says its technology is used in more than 6,000 communities across 49 states in partnership with thousands of law enforcement agencies nationwide. (Photo courtesy of Flock Safety)

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is ending its use of Flock Safety cameras and has ordered the company to remove the controversial license plate readers from campus.

“The UWM Police Department is discontinuing its use of Flock Safety cameras,” the university announced Thursday. “UWM has directed Flock Safety to remove the cameras. In the interim, the university has taken steps to ensure the cameras are not operational.”

The university did not provide a reason for the decision.

UWM is the latest in a rapidly growing group of Wisconsin law enforcement agencies to stop or suspend use of the automated license plate reader system. At least 31 other Wisconsin agencies have ended, suspended or announced plans to terminate or not renew their use of Flock.

The decision does not affect license plate readers used to manage UWM parking facilities.

“UWM parking garage license plate readers are not connected to any internal or external systems outside of UWM Transportation Services,” said the university. “Their sole purpose is to read license plates at designated parking facility entrances and exits.”

Until announcing the change, UWM had publicly defended its use of Flock.

The university’s website described the UWM Police Department as using a “limited number” of automated license plate readers to help identify vehicles connected to stolen vehicles, Amber Alerts, violent offenses, missing-person cases and other serious incidents.

UWM said the cameras captured still images of vehicles and vehicle characteristics but did not use facial recognition or collect personal information about drivers or passengers. The university also said the technology was not used to randomly monitor people or conduct continuous surveillance.

The DeFlock mapping service shows 18 cameras clustered on the university’s East Side campus. Two more can be seen in its parking lot north of E. Capitol Drive.

UWM is at least the third University of Wisconsin campus police department to take action against Flock. The UW-Madison Police Department ended its use, while UW-Oshkosh suspended its program.

The university’s reversal comes amid a dramatic collapse in support for Flock among Wisconsin law enforcement agencies.

A new wave of suspensions and cancellations began earlier this month after agencies learned Flock was using information generated from its cameras for a separate traffic analytics product. In Sheboygan, officials said a Flock representative offered to sell the city several years of anonymized traffic information generated from cameras already being operated by the city. The traffic data covered a longer period of time than Flock previously said it was retaining data for.

Flock says its traffic product uses aggregate, de-identified information and does not retain license plate information or individual vehicle records. But several Wisconsin agencies said they had not understood that information derived from their cameras would be retained and marketed separately.

Concerns also emerged after information connected to an active Fond du Lac County investigation was released by an out-of-state law enforcement agency in response to an open records request.

Those revelations added to existing concerns about privacy and the ability of law enforcement agencies to search a nationwide network of Flock cameras.

Among the Wisconsin agencies that have ended or are moving to end their relationships with Flock are police departments in Appleton, Altoona, Grand Chute, Kaukauna, Kenosha, Monona, Oshkosh, Stoughton, Sturgeon Bay and Verona, as well as the Dane County and Racine County sheriff’s offices. More than a dozen others have suspended use or are winding down their use of the system.

Milwaukee’s two largest local law enforcement agencies have so far taken a different approach.

The Milwaukee Police Department continues to use Flock, but Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Police Chief Jeffrey Norman announced significant restrictions in late August. Access is now limited to supervisors, searches are restricted to specified categories of investigations and MPD has stopped sharing access to its own cameras with outside agencies.

Milwaukee County also imposed new restrictions on its system, but County Executive David Crowley said Wednesday he does not currently plan to include money to renew the county’s Flock contract when it expires at the end of 2026.

The controversy is also moving into the courts.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a lawsuit Thursday against Waukesha County and 11 municipalities in the county, arguing that police searches of Flock’s database without a warrant violate the Fourth Amendment. WILL is not asking that the cameras be removed, but is seeking a court ruling requiring law enforcement officers to obtain a warrant before searching the database, absent an applicable exception.

Meanwhile, both candidates for Wisconsin attorney general have called for changes. Attorney General Josh Kaul has urged the Legislature to establish statewide rules governing automated license plate readers, including limits on data sharing and access and requirements for regular auditing. His Republican challenger, Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney, has also called for legislative action and supported decisions by law enforcement agencies in his county to discontinue their use of Flock.

Flock is not the only manufacturer of automated license plate readers, with MPD and other departments using mobile units mounted to vehicles, but Flock’s technology has engendered the greatest criticism for its network data sharing and the recent revelation that it is selling the data for non-public-safety purposes.