MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced on Monday that the Milwaukee Police Department has agreed to several new restrictions on its Flock license plate surveillance camera database. He says the overhaul is needed to address privacy concerns in the community and to help prevent future misuse.
A most significant change involves who can access the system. Until a few months ago, more than 600 Milwaukee police officers had access to the camera database. Going forward, the mayor says only supervisors can conduct searches. That means officers and detectives will need a supervisor to search for a vehicle involved in a criminal investigation.
MPD operates 31 Flock cameras throughout the city. The cameras photograph the back of every vehicle that passes, with images stored in the database for 30 days. The system is intended solely for use in criminal investigations.
Under the new agreement between Johnson and the police chief, MPD will also limit use of the database to serious crimes such as shootings, rape, robbery, drug trafficking, and abductions. The department has also agreed to stop sharing data from Milwaukee's Flock cameras with other law enforcement agencies.
"There are some folks who have decided to abuse that power. I think there's a balance between the two. You don't just throw the baby out with the bathwater and not allow the use of technology, but you also work to make sure that there are some restrictions so that folks who are abusing the technology no longer have the opportunity to do that, and that's what we're trying to strike," Johnson said.
WATCH: Milwaukee mayor announces several new restrictions on police license plate camera database
When asked whether he supports a recommendation from Flock Safety to narrow the database search window from 30 to 7 days — a change other departments have adopted — Johnson said he had not yet had the chance to discuss it with police or the Fire and Police Commission.
"There may be some changes that come with that down the line, but I haven't had the chance to discuss that with police or the Fire and Police Commission, so we'll have to see," Johnson said.
As an additional transparency measure, MPD plans to create a public online dashboard showing the department's use of Flock's database. TMJ4 reached out to Flock Safety for comment on these changes and have not yet heard back.
MPD released a statement saying it supports the use of Flock to assist in solving crimes but acknowledges the harm caused by former department members accused of misusing the technology.
"We are working with our City leadership to create robust guardrails to ensure that Flock is used exclusively as a crime-solving tool for the benefit of crime victims who have been harmed in our community," the statement said.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
