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Wheaton Council extends Flock Safety ALPR lease using $122,000 grant despite privacy concerns
Summary
The council unanimously approved a 12‑month extension of a Flock Safety automated license plate reader lease for 44 cameras, funded by a $122,000 Illinois Attorney General grant; police officials said the system meets CJIS standards while public commenters and residents raised privacy and accuracy concerns.
The Wheaton City Council voted unanimously April 6 to adopt Resolution R‑2026‑28, authorizing a 12‑month extension of the city’s lease with Flock Safety for 44 automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras in an amount not to exceed $122,000. City Manager Michael Dzugan told the council the extension is funded by a grant from the Illinois Attorney General’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force and that future camera counts would be reconsidered if grant funding ends.
Police leadership explained technical safeguards and operational limits. Police Chief Princeton Youker said the department adheres to Criminal Justice Information System standards and that ‘‘a record is not created until a law enforcement officer does an inquiry on a specific plate.’’ City Attorney Dawn Didier added that the system does not perform searches of the entire database when a plate is read and that the city treats Flock records as exempt from public release under the applicable FOIA exemption described to council.
Not all speakers supported the extension. During the public comment period, Sam Wilson urged the council to reject the contract, citing ‘‘inaccuracy of ALPR systems, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, system abuse, searching and tracking of individuals without sufficient oversight, [and] infringement of constitutional rights’’ by large‑scale plate collection. Earlier public commenters raised related concerns about automatic renewals and false positives.
The council approved the resolution on a unanimous roll call. Council members said the department can scale back cameras or terminate the agreement if grant funding or policy priorities change.
