MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Several members of the Milwaukee Common Council are urging Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman and the City’s Fire and Police Commission to adopt additional oversight measures for Flock cameras operating within city limits.
The requests were made in a letter written by Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic August 25 and co-signed by fellow alders Andrea Pratt, Mark Chambers, Alex Brower, Robert Bauman, Lamont Westmoreland, Milele Coggs, DiAndre Jackson, JoCasta Zamarripa, Sharlen Moore, José G. Pérez, and Scott Spiker. Alders Peter Burgelis, Russell Stamper, and Laressa Taylor did not sign the letter.
It comes as concerns continue to grow locally and nationwide over misuse of the technology.
“This is an urgent moment, and a problem that will not correct itself,” wrote Dimitrijevic, adding while the Common Council has the ability to enact change on its own, the body would prefer assistance of those within law enforcement in positions of leadership.
Changes to standard operating procedures called for in the letter include:
- Adoption of a seven-day retention period for routine ALPR data, unless specifically preserved for a documented investigation.
- Mandatory assignment of case/CAD numbers and specific justification for every search.
- Use of automated misuse detection and independent auditing, rather than relying solely on internal review.
- Whenever reasonably practicable, automated expiration and prompt removal of alerts with “human-in-the-loop” verification before an alert contributes to a high-risk stop.
- Adoption of strict limits on interagency and federal access, including a prohibition on use for civil immigration enforcement without judicial warrant or other legal requirement.
- Adoption of a cadence of public reporting to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners and the Common Council on searches, sharing, audit flags, erroneous alerts, and policy violations.
- Adoption of a policy providing for the immediate suspension of Flock access when there is credible evidence of intentional personal or unauthorized use.
- Adoption of a policy requiring access to the Flock system only on department-managed devices using multifactor authentication and requiring the logging of session information, unless the MPD can demonstrate a legitimate operational reason for remote access.
The requests also included a list of agencies that share automatic license plate reader (ALPR) feeds and hotlists with MPD, a complete history of all searches conducted by outside agencies using MPD camera data, a list of all users who have searched the system, and whether MPD is implementing Flock’s new recommendation for seven-day data retention instead of 30 days.
A deadline of September 30 for a response was given by the alders so that findings and recommendations could be a part of looming 2027 budget discussions at City Hall.
The letter was released one day before suspended Milwaukee Police detective Tehranghi Chapman pled not guilty to misusing the department’s Flock system by allegedly conducting 20 total illegal searches over six years, which Chapman claims were done for training purposes. Court documents show that Chapman also allegedly placed a GPS tracking device on one person’s car.
The Chapman case came to light during the investigation into former Milwaukee Police officer Josue Ayala, who was convicted in July of similar charges.
Public records show similar Flock misuse investigations are ongoing in at least eight states, many centered in the Atlanta-based company’s home state of Georgia. Some municipalities have terminated their contracts with the company early, including Appleton, Fitchburg, Grand Chute, Kaukauna, McFarland, Monona, Oshkosh, Stoughton, Sturgeon Bay, and Verona in Wisconsin.
Outside of criminal cases, concern has grown over how police departments handle errors regarding their ALPR technology. Amber Newell, a woman at the center of a high-risk traffic stop along I-94 in Brookfield after MPD staff inadvertently did not remove an outdated vehicle alert from the system, is now pursuing legal action against the department. Newell’s case is being taken on by high-profile civil rights attorney B’Ivory LaMarr.
RELATED: Woman demands answers after old MPD flock camera alert leads to second gunpoint stop
The August 25 letter isn’t the first time Common Council members have requested additional oversight of the Flock system; alders in March raised concerns following news of the Ayala investigation and recommended eight changes including implementing “independent auditing and meaningful review thresholds”. Since then, MPD has built a new internal audit that department risk manager James Lewis told WTMJ August 18 is helping identify potentially suspicious Flock searches.
The Fire and Police Commission is next scheduled to meet September 3. An agenda for the meeting has not yet been published. Milwaukee Police did not respond to a request for comment.
TOP STORIES FROM THE WTMJ NEWSROOM:
- Two Milwaukee 911 call takers resign after delayed response to 99-year-old woman’s attack
- New Marquette Law School Poll shows Crowley with a slight lead over Tiffany among likely voters
- Meta reaches $17 billion settlement with states in landmark trial over teen social media addiction
- Hearing set to review “Slender Man” stabber’s conditional release
- Investigation underway after child runs through Milwaukee County Zoo habitat
