Who Watches the Watchers? ACLU of Wisconsin Reacts to Reports of At Least Two More Police Under Investigation for Flock Misuse

RACINE – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin today responded to reports that two officers with the Racine Police Department are actively under investigation for misusing Flock’s Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) system.

This news comes just days after the Milwaukee Police Department announced that an internal affairs detective – who was tasked with investigating former officer Josue Ayala for using Flock to stalk an ex-girlfriend – has also been charged with illegally spying on someone in a separate case involving the ALPR.

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.

Amanda Merkwae, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the ACLU of Wisconsin, issued the following statement:

“Two Racine police officers are reportedly under investigation for misusing Flock, less than a week after a second MPD officer was criminally charged with using it unlawfully. This is becoming an epidemic, and every successive incident only further confirms what we already know: the police cannot be trusted to police themselves.

The only way to ensure meaningful change, transparency and accountability is for policymakers to take swift and decisive action to regulate surveillance tools and bring the procurement process — which is obscure, rushed and often done behind closed doors — out of the shadows and into public view.

Wisconsinites in every corner of the state are joining the fight against Flock. From Dane County to Oshkosh, everyday people have come together and forcefully spoken out against their local governments contracting with Flock, persuading some to rescind their agreements altogether. This is not a partisan issue. People of all backgrounds and political affiliations want to freely go about their lives without having to worry about the government using invasive, largely unregulated surveillance technology to pry into our personal lives. No matter who we are, we all want to ensure police follow the law, that our privacy and rights are respected, and that we are not egregiously spied on with tools we have little to no control over.

That is why we must take back control. Continuing to allow for Flock to operate so opaquely – with so few mechanisms for oversight or regulatory safeguards in place – is just a recipe for more abuse, misconduct and mistrust in the future. People across Wisconsin have lost faith in Flock and understand that it is failing to make us any safer. Our leaders must respond.”