OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — The Oshkosh Common Council will consider a resolution Tuesday that would permanently ban all automated license plate reading (ALPR) technology in the city, including devices like Flock Safety cameras.
Deputy Mayor Karl Beulow, who authored the resolution, says he plans to support it.
The resolution would prohibit the implementation or adoption of any ALPR technology without explicit council oversight and consent.
"This bans the implementation or adoption of any ALPR without exact counsel oversight and consent. It's a communication with not only our staff but our residents that, hey, we're going to do this homework, we're going to build the case, we're going to build a record that we can then judge the technology on," Beulow said.
Beulow says ALPR devices are often described as a hammer — one that can build a house or break a window, depending on who's holding it. He disagrees with that characterization, arguing that ALPR technology is more like dynamite — it can find diamonds, but it's too powerful for any individual to walk around with.
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Council Member Joe Stephenson told me he hopes the policy goes further.
"I do think there's going to probably be some robust conversation about the resolution," Stephenson said, "There's some language you can maybe borrow from the Appleton resolution that's currently being proposed right now, make sure there's no, no gray area, I guess that's what I'm trying to get at."
This comes after the city of Oshkosh canceled its contract with Flock Safety on April 22 with Winnebago County following suit on Sept. 4.
Tuesday night's meeting will start at 6 p.m.
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