Milwaukee County votes to remove Flock cameras from parks

The Milwaukee County Board voted to remove Flock cameras from its parks Thursday night. Passed unanimously, the resolution also permits the county to replace the controversial cameras with more conventional security cameras. It’s not clear  how the new cameras would be paid for.

Supv. Justin Bielinski, who authored the resolution, said he’s excited to remove Flock cameras from Milwaukee County parks. The cameras must be removed by the end of the year. 

Flock cameras are equipped with AI-powered automatic license plate reader technology. When a car passes in view, the camera takes a picture of the car and its license plate. The images are then stored in a database which can be searched at will by law enforcement agencies with their own Flock contracts. The searches can be done without a warrant, and allow officers to enter a license plate or vehicle description to determine where a vehicle has been.

Law enforcement agencies say the cameras are invaluable tools for detecting and stopping crime. Numerous law enforcement agencies in Milwaukee County use Flock including the Milwaukee Police Department and the sheriff’s office. In a presentation to a county board committee earlier this week, the sheriff’s office credited the cameras with contributing to a 43% decline in certain crimes around county parks between 2023 and 2026. 

Privacy advocates, concerned citizens and elected officials have increasingly soured on the cameras. Cases of officers using the cameras to surveil protesters, pursue women suspected of seeking out-of-state  abortions and keeping tabs on current or estranged romantic partners have made national news. In Wisconsin, three police officers and one sheriff’s deputy in Milwaukee, Menasha and Kenosha counties have faced charges of misconduct in public office due to their use of Flock to unlawfully monitor people.

Milwaukee County Executive and Democratic candidate for governor David Crowley proposed removing funding for Flock in the 2027 budget.

The sheriff’s office said that without a replacement technology, crime would increase in the 11 parks where the cameras have been installed. It’s estimated that replacing the cameras could cost as much as $140,000. In 2025, the Examiner found that at least 221 Wisconsin law enforcement agencies used Flock during that year. Several communities around the state have removed their Flock cameras since then.