FOND DU LAC COUNTY (NBC 26) — Five Fond du Lac County law enforcement agencies are discontinuing their use of Flock cameras, effective immediately.
According to a joint media release sent out early Friday afternoon, the agencies — the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office, Fond du Lac Police Department, Waupun Police Department, Ripon Police Department, and North Fond du Lac Police Department — announced the decision after discovering that search data from their Flock systems was disclosed by law enforcement agencies in other states in response to open records requests.
The agencies said they did not authorize the release of that data. Under Wisconsin law, records pertaining to active investigations are exempt from public disclosure.
"The loss of control over our own investigative data, combined with concerns over how quickly Flock's technology has expanded beyond traditional plate-reading systems, has led Fond du Lac County law enforcement agencies to conclude that continuing the program at this time is not appropriate," the agencies said.
Because Flock's search logs are shared across a nationwide network of participating agencies, data captured in Fond du Lac County was subject to records decisions made by agencies in other states — decisions made without the county's knowledge or consent.
The agencies acknowledged the technology helped apprehend dangerous criminals, including homicide and shooting suspects, child sex-trafficking suspects, drug traffickers, and stalkers. It also helped locate missing, suicidal, and endangered people, including trafficking victims.
"We've heard directly from residents grateful for those outcomes, and we've heard from others with real concerns about privacy and oversight. Both perspectives are valid, and both factored into this decision," the agencies said.
The ability to conduct searches on the system ended as of Friday, and covers are being installed over the lens of every camera to prevent further image capture.
"Our confidence in our officers' use of this tool hasn't changed. What changed was the realization that once our data leaves our respective agencies, we cannot guarantee how it's handled elsewhere. That is not a risk we're willing to accept without stronger safeguards in place," the agencies said.
The agencies said they will reconsider using automated plate readers if clear safeguards and measures are put in place to oversee how shared ALPR data is used, stored, accessed, and disclosed by other jurisdictions.
The decision was signed by Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt, Fond du Lac Police Chief Aaron Goldstein, Waupun Police Chief Jeremy Rasch, Ripon Police Chief Bill Wallner, and North Fond du Lac Police Chief Pete Vergos.
