Monona police pause Flock license-plate reader renewal amid community concerns

Monona's police chief told the Public Safety Committee on April 26 that he will not renew the city's contract with Flock, a private license-plate reader (LPR) vendor, citing community concern and unanswered questions about the technology.

"I thought it would be unethical and inappropriate for me to renew our contract with Flock," the police chief said, adding that the department has paused the automatic renewal and shut down access to the system while the city considers next steps. He described the pause as temporary and said reinstating the service would be straightforward if the council and community choose to do so.

The chief said the city currently has four cameras associated with the program; he described limits on live viewing and said the system records license plates rather than faces. He also said the department does not sell the data and that it is not being shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while acknowledging community concerns about the vendor's reputation and past data-sharing questions raised elsewhere.

Committee members pressed for clarity about how the pause relates to county and regional decisions. The chief said the county board voted to stop funding the shared program line item, which would prevent county funding from supporting local participation, but emphasized that a sheriff in the county remains a vocal supporter of the technology. "They can't tell the sheriff what to do," the chief said, describing the county funding decision as a factor that could limit the program if the sheriff lacks local money for it.

The chief described the pause as a chance for public conversation and a potential return to the technology later: "If the community or I, you know, talk to the mayor and council and we say, yep. We wanna reinstitute this with Flock specifically. It's as easy as the first time... to reach out again and say we'd like to reinstate a contract."

Supporters of LPR systems among regional law enforcement, the chief said, argue the tool aids investigations; he noted that the department used Flock in several recent burglary investigations and that the technology made some cases easier to solve. Opponents in the community have voiced questions about privacy, vendor practices and the potential for data sharing; the police chief said those concerns prompted his decision to pause renewal.

Mayor, council or staff follow-up steps were not scheduled at the meeting; the chief invited broader public discussion and said he would bring the issue back to elected officials if requested.

The committee took no formal vote on the Flock contract at the meeting.