Advocates Call On Milwaukee Leaders to End Flock Contract, Establish CCOPS Framework to Regulate Surveillance

MILWAUKEE – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Turners, along with 43 other organizations, today sent an open letter to Milwaukee elected officials demanding an end to the city’s Flock contract and the adoption of a framework – like Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) – requiring transparency, public participation, and Common Council approval before the acquisition or deployment of AI-powered surveillance technology.

The letter, addressed to the Common Council, Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Police Chief Jefferey Norman and the Fire and Police Commission (FPC), is the second letter the coalition has sent in recent months sounding the alarm over government surveillance. Last May, they warned that Milwaukee was purchasing and deploying increasingly invasive surveillance equipment in secret, writing to the Common Council about the potential for these tools to violate privacy rights, supercharge federal overreach, and open the door for abuse or misconduct if used recklessly.

Unfortunately, many of the very concerns expressed in the original letter have now come to pass. Since that time, “Milwaukeeans have seen firsthand what can happen when powerful surveillance technology is placed in the hands of law enforcement without sufficient transparency and independent oversight,” the authors write, citing the multiple cases of MPD Flock misuse and the failure of department officials to definitively state whether or not Flock data has been accessed by ICE.

“These cases demonstrate why automated license plate readers (ALPRs) cannot simply be treated as another piece of police equipment,” the letter reads. “ALPRs allow the government to engage in the dragnet, warrantless collection of likely millions of images of vehicles and plates of people driving to work, church, union meetings, medical appointments, and protests in Milwaukee that are stored by a multibillion dollar company for AI-powered searches and predictive analytics. ALPRs enable users to reconstruct individuals’ patterns of movement and associations. When access is abused–or used as intended–the consequences can extend far beyond the person whose information was searched.”

The organizations also note the various Flock scandals that have occurred in other parts of the state, sparking massive public backlash that has caused dozens of Wisconsin jurisdictions to either cancel or decide not to renew Flock contracts. Local governments have correctly recognized that the risks posed by Flock cameras are too great to justify continuing to use them. There is no reason that decision-makers in Milwaukee shouldn’t arrive at the same conclusion.

Beyond just ending its Flock contract, the coalition says further action is needed to protect residents from unchecked surveillance tech, advocating for implementation of a policy framework like CCOPS.

“MPD has used Flock since 2022,” the letter says. “Every Flock sole-source, no-bid contract amendment and extension in 2023, 2024, and 2025 bypassed Finance & Personnel Committee approval and, as a result, bypassed democratic accountability.

A framework similar to CCOPS would ensure that these decisions receive the democratic scrutiny they deserve. Before the city acquires, funds, or deploys surveillance technology, the public and Common Council should receive meaningful information about how the technology works, where it may be deployed, what information it collects, how long that information is retained, who can access it, how it can be shared, what it costs, and what potential impacts it may have on civil rights and civil liberties.”

The letter sent in May 2025 is available here:

https://www.aclu-wi.org/app/uploads/2025/05/ccopscoalitionletter.pdf