OCONOMOWOC — Oconomowoc is preparing to remove funding for its Flock license plate reading cameras, according to a city leader.
Alderman Lou Kowiesk says a majority of the Common Council plans to vote next week to cut the $18,000 annual cost from the upcoming budget. Oconomowoc's mayor tells TMJ4 that he is the one calling on the Common Council to vote on Flock’s future in the city.
The city has operated six Flock cameras for the past three years. Alderman Kowieski says those cameras could come down as soon as next week following the Common Council’s decision.
Watch Ben Jordan's report in the video player below:
He says privacy and data-sharing concerns are driving the push to defund the program.
"It's set in the contract that we own it, but they are leasing it back to other entities. So it's a violation of that contract and a violation of that trust," Kowieski said.
Flock cameras photograph the back of every passing car, capturing the license plate, make, model, and identifiers like bumper stickers. Those images are stored for 30 days and can be used to track a vehicle's movements.
The Oconomowoc Police Department's Flock policy states the cameras are only to be used for "legitimate law enforcement purposes."
Kowieski says despite no incidents of misuse among Oconomowoc officers, he’s heard significant feedback from residents in his district largely opposing the technology.
The push to remove the cameras gained momentum after two former Milwaukee police officers were criminally charged for allegedly using Flock’s database to track ex-partners.
Oconomowoc resident Matthew Vanderhoef says his opposition comes after seeing a widely circulated video last month that showed Brookfield officers with guns drawn surrounding a woman — only for it to emerge that the Milwaukee Police Department had already cleared the vehicle from a Milwaukee homicide investigation but failed to remove the alert from the Flock database.
"They want to share your data, and that's not OK," Vanderhoef said. "Privacy is a big thing too.”
When asked whether he supports Oconomowoc preparing to remove the cameras, Vanderhoef was unequivocal.
"Yeah, 100 percent support them. I wish more counties would do it in more cities," Vanderhoef said.
Not everyone shares that view. Resident Matthew Williams sees value in the cameras as a crime-fighting tool.
"They're here to catch criminals and read plates and stuff like that, so I'm kind of OK with it," Williams said.
Kowieski says the city has no plans to switch to a Flock competitor, such as Axon or Motorola license plate reading products.
The Oconomowoc Police Department and Flock Safety had not responded to interview requests at the time of this report.
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