OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford has called for the removal of all Flock Safety automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in the city, citing community concerns about the company and its technology. Flock cameras will remain in place until further action is taken.
The announcement comes two weeks after Oshkosh similarly removed its Flock cameras.
WATCH THE FULL BROADCAST HERE:
"We pay close attention to what's happening in our communities and also with vendors that we use and also hearing from our constituents about concerns that they've had with this particular company and the technology," Woodford said.
The mayor's move would not eliminate all ALPRs in Appleton. The Appleton Common Council recently proposed a separate resolution that would remove all ALPRs, rather than only Flock cameras.
District 12 Alderperson Nate Wolff raised concerns about simply replacing Flock with another vendor.
"They want to try out Axon. While perhaps Axon is a better vendor, it seems a bit insane to me that we're just going to be like, here's this giant mess with over 600,000 examples of abuse by law enforcement. Let's just give it another shot," Wolff said.
Appleton residents expressed mixed views on the cameras. Some said the technology serves a public safety purpose.
"I mean, personal privacy is important, of course, but, it is good to have the cameras there because there's a lot of people doing bad things. Being on their phone, maybe drinking and driving," Austin Smalley said.
Others voiced broader concerns about surveillance.
"The problem is, it's not just the Flock cameras, you know, they're being surveilled everywhere by everything. I've got a little phone here that I'm sure it's tracking me," Helmut Schroetter said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
