Sheriff presents Flock license-plate readers; commissioners press for data safeguards and transparency

The Ramsey County sheriff's office presented on July 22, 2025, about the county's use of Flock license-plate reader (LPR) cameras and the broader network of cameras used by local contract cities and partner agencies. The briefing prompted sustained questions from commissioners about privacy safeguards, data retention and third‑party access.

Sheriff (Bob) described the system as a tool primarily aimed at identifying stolen vehicles and transmitting alerts to officers. "The whole concept here is to let officers on the street really know when a stolen car is driving through their jurisdiction. It's really about stolen cars," he said. He told commissioners that Flock photographs each car that drives by, reads license plates and checks state and NCIC databases for stolen plates or active "cops alerts."

Key details presented: the sheriff said Flock's policy deletes collected LPR data every 30 days (he contrasted that with state law, which he described as requiring deletion after 60 days and said agencies may delete earlier). He…