A Flock camera in Oshkosh. March 31, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online
(WTAQ-WLUK) — Flock Safety cameras have been at the center of debate for many Northeast Wisconsin communities.
Authorities use the technology to help track and catch criminals.
The fallout over license plate reading cameras continues in Menasha, where all Flock cameras were covered earlier this week.
In a statement, Mayor Austin Hammond said:
There is a great and genuine concern that exists regarding privacy and how the data is accessed and shared.
Hammond wants the city council to terminate its Flock contract at a meeting this month.
This comes weeks after a former Menasha Police Officer was convicted of misconduct in office, after using Flock to stalk his ex-girlfriend
He was sentenced to six months in jail.
The City of Neenah may become the next to drop Flock.
Neenah Police Chief Aaron Olson is also making the suggestion to city leaders.
Olson said he’s declining all media inquiries right now, writing:
I will be recommending that the City of Neenah end its contract with Flock Safety, and that recommendation will move through the appropriate City Council process.
To ensure that this matter is handled transparently and without influencing or complicating the Council’s deliberations, I will not be accepting media interviews related to Flock Safety at this time. This decision is intended to keep the process clean, orderly, and respectful of the Council’s role.
Neenah and Menasha aren’t the only communities moving away from Flock.
Starting Tuesday, Grand Chute completed its transition from Flock cameras to a different license plate reader company after voting in early June to end its contract with Flock.
The town already had a new agreement lined up with Axon, a company that also sells license plate reading cameras.
“We talked with Axon and they offer a very solid product… [It’s] something that we believe benefits the community in multiple ways and also respects resident privacy in a way that feels more comfortable, quite honestly,” Grand Chute Police Chief David Maas said in June.
Maas also said the town will have more knowledge of whether and how the data is being used by the agencies it shares with.
This will allow for more transparency on what the cameras are being used for.
He also said Flock gave the town security concerns and had poor service with malfunctioning cameras.
Meanwhile, the city of Appleton ended its contract with Flock in May and ended its use of the cameras on June 30.
It’s not clear if Appleton will replace the cameras with another license plate reader technology.
Mayor Jake Woodford said in June he supports the use of the technology for law enforcement purposes.
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