MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee County leaders voted Tuesday to move away from controversial Flock license plate reader technology in county parks while still allowing more traditional security cameras.
After hours of debate, the Milwaukee County Committee on Parks and Culture unanimously approved an amended resolution that would remove Flock automated license plate reader, or ALPR, systems from county parks while allowing the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office to explore replacement “closed-loop” surveillance cameras that do not use license plate tracking technology or facial recognition.
The measure now heads to the full Milwaukee County Board.
Milwaukee County leaders voted to remove controversial Flock technology from county parks — but the debate over privacy and public safety is just getting started
Supporters of the resolution argued searchable surveillance systems create privacy and civil liberties concerns.
“Why is it that we think at Milwaukee County that we know better than all these municipalities, all these law enforcement agencies from around the state from all different political stripes?” Supervisor Justin Bielinski said during Tuesday’s meeting.
The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office pushed back, arguing the technology helps solve violent crimes, shootings, sexual assaults and stolen vehicle cases in county parks.
“We would love to have more patrols in the over 150 parks,” Chief Deputy Brian Barkow told supervisors. “The simple fact is we don’t have the resources to do that. This video technology allows us to be quite frankly in multiple places at one time.”
MCSO also outlined new safeguards, including limiting access to 47 authorized users, ending outside agency data sharing and potentially reducing data retention to 48 hours.
At McKinley Park, people interviewed by TMJ4 News were divided on the issue.
“Sometimes, yeah,” Luis, a parkgoer running with his dog, said when asked whether cameras in parks make him feel safer.
Another parkgoer, Kaushing, said she worries the systems go too far.
“I can understand the point of safety,” she said. “But Flock cameras … I feel like it’s an invasion of privacy for sure.”
The committee ultimately rejected removing all surveillance cameras from parks, instead backing a compromise that removes Flock and ALPR technology while preserving the possibility of traditional county-controlled security cameras.
TMJ4 News reached out to Flock for comment following Tuesday’s committee vote and was awaiting a response Tuesday evening.
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