Minnesota cities pull back on Flock cameras amid public pushback
Minnesota cities pull back on Flock cameras amid public pushback
Flock cameras are sparking a great debate across the country, with some police praising them as crime fighting tools, while critics cite privacy concerns. Now, a growing number of communities in Minnesota are taking a step back from the controversial automated license plate readers. FOX 9’s Maury Glover explains why.
NORTH BRANCH, Minn. (FOX 9) - A growing number of Minnesota communities are rethinking their use of Flock cameras as debates over privacy and surveillance heat up.
Cities respond to public pushback over Flock cameras
What we know:
North Branch Mayor Kevin Schieber said he is pausing the city’s contract with Flock and has covered the three cameras already installed in the community.
Schieber said, "There's a lot of concern about mass surveillance, government overreach."
Schieber explained that public pushback has intensified since the cameras were introduced earlier this year, and he wants to give residents time to understand the issues.
"Ultimately it comes to a point where we need to have those conversations and we are not in that much of a hurry where we have to put so many people on edge where we have to worry in our own community about someone cutting down those cameras on poles and damaging the cameras that doesn't help anybody," said Schieber.
He noted that with cameras now common everywhere, from doorbells to highways, public perception may have reached a breaking point.
"It feels to me like our community and maybe our society in general is saying we've kind of exceeded our limit. Enough is enough," said Schieber.
Some cities have seen the cameras vandalized or removed, adding to the debate about their future in Minnesota neighborhoods.
Other Minnesota communities reconsider Flock contracts
What they're saying:
Isanti County Sheriff Wayne Seiberlich said his department will move away from Flock cameras after an eight-camera free trial ends in August.
Seiberlich said, "We have 3 deputies covering 452 square miles in the county. We can't be everywhere at one time."
Seiberlich said his office did not find any negatives with the system, but the volume of alerts was overwhelming.
"I don't want to rule out the possibility that in the future we could use this. It's just for our agency right now this just doesn't seem to be the right time," said Seiberlich.
West St. Paul is the latest city in the metro area to suspend its contract with Flock, and Columbia Heights voted to end its relationship with the company earlier this summer.
The debate over Flock cameras has sparked conversations about balancing crime prevention with privacy, and many communities are giving residents more time to weigh in.