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License-plate readers · Jefferson

Jefferson

Using license-plate readers · 3 agencies documented

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Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

Status
Use suspended
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No count from a cited source.
  1. Sept. 10, 2026 Sheriff Travis Maze suspended the office's use of Flock, saying he had lost confidence in how the office's data was being handled. The office said it had found no sign that its own staff misused the system. (WMTV 15 News, Sept. 10, 2026; Daily Jefferson County Union, Sept. 15, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Maze: "The trust of the public is more important than any information we could obtain from the use of the Flock system."

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Lake Mills Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Contract
Flock Safety: period not stated · from March 2025 · Contract started March 2025 with a 90-day opt-out period that began Sept. 4, 2026, when the last camera was validated. (Daily Jefferson County Union, Sept. 15, 2026)
  1. Sept. 15, 2026 Chief Steve Schroeder said the department was using the contract's opt-out to leave Flock. Staff stopped using the Flock database, and the cameras will remain covered until Flock takes them down. (Daily Jefferson County Union, Sept. 15, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Physical removal not confirmed; cameras covered pending removal by Flock.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Whitewater Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
13
13 cameras citywide per the Gazette (April 2026); city records show 3 cameras in 2023 plus 9 more requested in Dec. 2023.
Contract
Flock Safety: $19,950 term · approved by Whitewater Common Council (agenda 2023-09-19) · Two-year service contract for 3 cameras, paid mostly from state LEA grant funds. Approval is per the staff request; minutes not checked. (City of Whitewater, Sept. 19, 2023)
Contract
Flock Safety: $58,100 term · approved by Whitewater Common Council (agenda 2023-12-05) · Two-year contract for 9 more cameras ($57,350) plus moving one camera ($750); council had approved $54,000 for expansion on 2023-11-21. Minutes not checked. (City of Whitewater, Dec. 5, 2023)
  1. 2026 Police gave the council a list of significant Flock-assisted cases from October 2023 to February 2026. (City of Whitewater, 2026)
  2. 2026 Chief Dan Meyer defended the cameras to the council; the Gazette reported the city pays about $39,000 a year for 13 cameras under a contract that runs through 2027. (The Gazette (GazetteXtra), April 9, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Gazette published 2026-04-09 (page metadata); Meyer's council report was the prior week. Whitewater is mostly in Walworth County, partly in Jefferson County.

From agency records.

Statewide

  1. Aug. 2023 FOX6 reported that the Wisconsin Department of Justice said it does not keep track of Flock cameras, and that Wisconsin had no law setting retention periods for plate-reader data. (FOX6 News Milwaukee, Aug. 2, 2023)
  2. 2025 Lobbying registrations on AB 300 with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission: the ACLU of Wisconsin registered against (6/8/2025); the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association (6/10/2025), the League of Wisconsin Municipalities (6/23/2025) and Flock Group Inc. (7/25/2025) registered in favor; the Wisconsin Grocers Association registered 'other' (6/19/2025). (Wisconsin Ethics Commission (lobbying.wi.gov), date not shown)
  3. 2025 The Wisconsin Examiner, citing OpenSecrets, reported that Flock spent $102,000 on lobbying in Wisconsin in 2025, and that AB 300 and SB 299 did not pass. (Wisconsin Examiner (republished by Urban Milwaukee), Aug. 28, 2026)
  4. May 30, 2025 Senate Bill 299, by Sens. James and Wanggaard, was introduced to create a state grant program (new s. 165.985) for buying automated registration plate reader systems; it was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, and the Legislature's page shows no later action. (Wisconsin State Legislature, date not shown)
  5. June 6, 2025 Assembly Bill 300, the companion grant-program bill by Rep. Novak and 13 other representatives, was introduced and referred to the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety; the Legislature's page shows no later action. (Wisconsin State Legislature, date not shown)
  6. Aug. 6, 2025 A Wisconsin Examiner analysis of Flock network audit data found that at least 221 Wisconsin law enforcement agencies used Flock from Jan. 1 to May 31, 2025. (Wisconsin Examiner, Aug. 6, 2025)
  7. Sept. 2026 Attorney General Josh Kaul, speaking at a Rotary Club event, called on the Legislature to pass a state law governing how plate readers may be used, including a general bar on selling ALPR data to private companies. (CBS 58 says Tuesday; its story is dated Sept. 8, 2026.) (CBS 58 (WDJT), Sept. 8, 2026)
  8. Sept. 2026 State Rep. Calvin Callahan, chair of the Assembly Committee on Consumer Protection, said government use of Flock cameras should be prohibited unless it comes with warrants, judicial oversight and strict retention limits, and said he would hold a committee hearing on surveillance cameras when the Legislature returns in January. No bill number was cited. (WSAW says the statement came on a Tuesday; the story is dated Sept. 15, 2026.) (WSAW NewsChannel 7, Sept. 15, 2026)
  9. Sept. 2026 Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany said that if elected he would pause state funding for Flock and create a privacy task force; Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a Democratic candidate for governor, directed county departments to limit Flock use. (Wisconsin Public Radio, Sept. 2, 2026)