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Resident urges Wheeling to cancel Flock ALPR contract, cites privacy and effectiveness concerns
Summary
A public commenter asked the board to cancel the village's contract with Flock and remove automatic license plate reader cameras, arguing the system is vulnerable to misuse, citing examples from Georgia and Illinois and claiming limited crime-clearance benefits.
At the Aug. 3 meeting, a resident, identified in the record as Doug, urged the trustee board to cancel the village’s contract with Flock and remove automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras from Wheeling.
Doug presented three core arguments: that the systems cannot prevent unauthorized access; that authorized users have abused ALPR searches in other jurisdictions; and that ALPRs do not demonstrably increase crime-clearance rates. He referenced incidents in Dunwoody, Georgia and an Illinois case in Holiday Hills, saying Flock employees "have been caught watching footage from a girl's gymnastics practice" and that an Illinois officer "abused the searches hundreds of times." He also referenced FBI crime-statistics comparing clearance rates for 2021 and 2025 in Atlanta.
"Cancel the contract with Flock," Doug told the board. He also suggested surveying residents during National Night Out to gauge public opinion.
President Horker thanked him for his comments; no board action was taken at the meeting regarding the ALPR contract. The transcript records the comment as public input; the board did not respond with factual rebuttal or commit to next steps in the public record.
