Overview
- The Milwaukee Police Department agreed Tuesday to limit searches of Flock Safety automated license‑plate records to supervisors only and to restrict use to serious Part I crimes, critical missing‑person cases, drug‑trafficking probes and abductions.
- Mayor Cavalier Johnson ordered a public dashboard and semiannual independent audits conducted by the Fire and Police Commission to increase transparency and oversight of the city’s 31 Flock cameras that photograph rear license plates and keep images for 30 days.
- Two former MPD employees were criminally charged for alleged personal misuse of the Flock system, a development city leaders cited as a key reason for the new limits and for stopping data sharing with other agencies.
- Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley issued a directive requiring county offices to create binding standards on access, retention and sharing, to mandate independent audits, and to bar use of Flock data for federal immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant.
- Other Wisconsin cities are reexamining or ending Flock contracts and state policymakers are being urged to write broader transparency rules, a shift that could reduce interagency data sharing and prompt new statewide surveillance limits.