Milwaukee Common Council explores license plate cameras, prompting surveillance concerns

Heather Hough, the Police Department’s chief of staff, said police policy restricts access to camera footage and use in investigations. Milwaukee police started using the cameras in 2022, she said.

Milwaukee police and business improvement districts are looking to expand the use of license plate reading cameras that they say can help solve crimes, though the plan has met with opposition from residents worried about privacy.

At issue during the Common Council’s Finance and Personnel Committee meeting on May 29 was legislation to expand the use of Flock cameras. The cameras scan and identify license plates, according to Milwaukee police.

The committee decided to hold the legislation, meaning it could come up at a future meeting. The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for June 18.

The expansion would add three new cameras in Milwaukee’s business districts. It occurs during a broader discussion about the potential benefits to public safety versus concerns over increased police surveillance.  

“Ultimately, there’s going to be a discussion … about anything that smacks of surveillance software and what oversight is provided and should be provided,” Ald. Scott Spiker said.

More: Milwaukee leaders want a law to allow cameras that automatically cite speeding drivers

Heather Hough, the Police Department’s chief of staff, said police policy restricts access to camera footage and its use in investigations. Milwaukee police started using the cameras in 2022, she said.

The cameras help with property theft and potentially identifying homicide suspects’ vehicles through the license plates, she said.

“These particular cameras aren’t equipped to identify people,” Hough said.

Business leader pushes for acquiring more cameras

Business leaders advocated for the cameras, saying they provide safety in the city.

The expansion of Flock cameras could help lower car thefts and help with Amber Alerts, said Tara Cavazos, the executive director of the South 27^th Street Business District Association and one of the supporters of the legislation.

Cavazos argued Flock cameras can remove bias in policing because the cameras identify only license plates, and Milwaukee police need a reason to access the camera footage.

“You still have to do your police work to identify who’s driving that car,” Cavazos said.

Cavazos’ organization was joined by other business districts near the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport and southwest Milwaukee — the Gateway to Milwaukee and the Crisol Corridor — as supporters of the legislation. The groups donated funds for the cameras for two years, she said.

How Flock cameras are already used in Milwaukee

Cavazos said the Flock cameras in her business district have helped lower car thefts and identify a homicide suspect.

Flock cameras were also referenced in cases like the Maxwell Anderson trial.

In the latter, police testified the cameras helped them track victim Sade Robinson’s vehicle through the city the night she died.

Currently, Milwaukee has 31 Flock cameras in use, police told the Journal Sentinel.

Milwaukee residents raise concerns about the use of technology

For those against the Flock cameras, even three more cameras is part of an unchecked growth of police surveillance in the city since 2022.  

Heba Mohammad, a Milwaukee resident who lives in the area where the cameras would be located, said Flock cameras wouldn’t help the community. Mohammad instead advocated for addressing root causes of crime, like poverty rates and meeting residents’ needs.

“To me this is more of an interest in having the illusion of safety rather than doing things that make our community safer,” Mohammad said.

Milwaukee resident Ron Jansen raised concerns about the cameras being used by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

“All these cameras do is create another avenue for abuse at the hands of MPD now and whatever police force comes to kidnap whoever the federal government decides is a threat in the near future,” Jansen said.

This is not the first time Milwaukee police have faced scrutiny from the community about surveillance technology.

The issue of privacy came up this year when Milwaukee police were talking about the potential use of facial recognition technology in investigations, which was met with backlash from residents and the Common Council.

Milwaukee police recently implemented a drone team after the Republican National Convention, prompting surveillance concerns from some.

Amanda Merkwae, an advocacy director at ACLU Wisconsin, said the Common Council should consider adopting a program called Community Control Over Police Surveillance, also known as CCOPS ordinance.

The ordinance requires police surveillance technology to be reviewed by the public and Common Council before it can be implemented, she said.

“I think at least by adopting something like a CCOPS ordinance puts a framework around the decision to ensure transparency and democracy in that decision making, I think the public can really grapple with these questions,” Merkwae said.