ACLU of Wisconsin Responds to Accusations of Another Milwaukee Police Officer Misusing Flock Surveillance Technology

MILWAUKEE – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin today responded to the criminal charges filed against a Milwaukee Police Internal Affairs Detective who allegedly used Flock’s Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) system to track two individuals' locations a total of 20 times over the course of one year.

Flock’s surveillance technology scans and stores vehicle data from countless drivers every day, enabling the government to track where people drive and when — without their knowledge or consent and without a warrant. These devices collect everyone’s data, not just data on vehicles associated with a crime.

Reporting has also revealed searches carried out by local officers across the country on behalf of ICE for immigration purposes.

ACLU-WI Policy and Advocacy Director Amanda Merkwae said the following:

“It is outrageous that a Milwaukee Police Internal Affairs Detective who was entrusted with investigating former officer Josue Ayala for using Flock to stalk a romantic partner has now been charged with using the very same system to illegally surveil two people. Incidents of law enforcement misusing Flock have become a troubling and persistent pattern throughout the country and within the state, and for MPD to now have two such cases in a matter of months speaks to just how easily this technology can be abused. It also makes clear that police cannot be trusted to police their own acquisition and use of these tools.

For years, MPD has quietly entered no-bid contracts with Flock, bypassing Common Council approval. At the bare minimum, we need to codify a framework for procurement and regulation of surveillance technologies – such as a Community Control Over Police Surveillance ordinance – to ensure proper oversight, transparency, and democratic accountability.

Flock’s inescapable network of AI-powered surveillance gives police new power to track all of our movements, putting our freedom to move freely in danger. And even if a person is not violating the law, the threat of this constant, ever-present surveillance could make people afraid to lawfully exercise their rights of freedom of speech, religion, and association.

Flock’s system reveals far more than our license plate number. They record where we were, when we were there, and over time can reveal our religious practices, medical visits, political activities, personal relationships, and daily routines. And all of that data doesn’t just stay in one place – it can be shared directly and indirectly with other state, local and federal police agencies.

Local community members and elected representatives alike have called for police surveillance to be reined in and strictly regulated. Wisconsinites across the state are pushing back against Flock in powerful ways, organizing and educating their neighbors, packing town hall meetings and hearing rooms, and successfully lobbying public officials to end their investment in Flock and other ALPR companies.

In March, multiple members of the Milwaukee Common Council sent a letter to the Fire and Police Commission raising concerns about how police are using Flock, proposing a series of reforms to how police surveillance is deployed, disclosed, documented and regulated. The alders wrote that ‘when powerful surveillance systems exist without strong, enforceable audit protocols and independent oversight, the risk of abuse is not theoretical — it is foreseeable.’ Those words resonate even more clearly now than they did then. We cannot wait any longer – the time for our leaders to act is now.”

The Common Council’s letter can be found here: https://www.aclu-wi.org/press-releases/aclu-of-wisconsin-supports-common-council-letter-calling-for-police-surveillance-reforms-in-milwaukee/