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License-plate readers · Marathon

Marathon

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Marathon County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
8
Eight cameras under the office's two Flock agreements, per Wausau Pilot & Review (Sept. 2026) review of the contracts; the same outlet also cited 10 cameras elsewhere. WSAW reported one camera (Town of Rib Mountain) in December 2022.
Contract
Flock Safety: period not stated · from 2022 · approved by Signed by a sheriff's lieutenant; not taken to the County Board (county administrator said the sheriff has independent authority) · 2022 agreement; termination for convenience at $500 per Flock hardware unit plus prorated refund. (Wausau Pilot & Review, Sept. 7, 2026)
Contract
Flock Safety: $38,550 period not stated · from Dec. 2024 · approved by Signed by a sheriff's lieutenant; not taken to the County Board · December 2024 order form for three cameras, 48-month term, incorporating 2022 terms; county paid $38,550 at signing. Program cost described as $26,500 a year, grant-funded since 2023. (Wausau Pilot & Review, Sept. 7, 2026)
  1. 2022 The sheriff's office put up its first Flock camera in the Town of Rib Mountain, about four months before a WSAW report of Dec. 29, 2022 (roughly late summer 2022). (WSAW, Dec. 29, 2022)
  2. Dec. 2024 Sheriff's office signed an order form for three more Flock cameras on a 48-month term. (Wausau Pilot & Review, Sept. 7, 2026)
  3. Aug. 11, 2026 County Public Safety Committee discussed the cameras. (Wausau Pilot & Review, Sept. 7, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Sharing is nationwide, including federal agencies through a regional narcotics task force the office hosts; Sheriff Chad Billeb said the office does not use Flock for immigration enforcement. Office publishes a transparency portal. As of Sept. 7, 2026 no decision to end use had been reported and the County Board had not scheduled discussion; nothing later was found. Camera-count discrepancy (8 vs 10) within Wausau Pilot reporting.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Wausau Police Department

Status
Removing or limiting cameras
Vendors
Flock Safety, Axon
Cameras
20
20 fixed Flock cameras on major corridors and city entry/exit points, per a police memo reported by Wausau Pilot & Review in June 2026; the same count appears in WSAW (June 2026) and WAOW (April 2024). Wausau Pilot & Review (Sept. 2026) also reports that the department's annual audits list Axon Fleet in-car cameras with plate reading on its 24 patrol vehicles, linked to the Flock system; nothing found says that in-car use has ended.
Contract
Flock Safety: $50,000 year · from Jan. 2023 · approved by Wausau City Council (sole-source purchase of 20 cameras, 7-2), 2022-09 · First agreement signed January 2023 for one year, $2,500 per camera per year, with a $500-per-camera exit fee. Initially funded by a state grant (about $57,000) the Finance Committee preliminarily approved accepting. Date given as YYYY-MM because the date of the 7-2 council vote is not stated exactly (WSAW said 'Tuesday night' in a 2022-09-28 story). (Wausau Pilot & Review, Sept. 7, 2026; WSAW, Sept. 28, 2022)
Contract
Flock Safety: $250,000 term · to Dec. 15, 2028 · approved by Wausau City Council, 2023-10-24 (9-1) · Five-year agreement, $50,000 a year ($2,500 per camera). Termination-for-convenience clause dropped; non-appropriation clause allows exit on 30 days' notice if not funded. Finance Committee approved the sole-source request 5-0 in September 2023. $197,547.95 invoiced since 2023 per Wausau Pilot & Review. Not competitively bid. (Wausau Pilot & Review, Sept. 7, 2026; Wausau Pilot & Review, June 10, 2026)
  1. March 2022 Wausau Finance Committee declined to use federal ARPA money for plate-reader cameras. (Wausau Pilot & Review, Sept. 7, 2026)
  2. Sept. 2022 City Council approved a sole-source purchase of 20 Flock cameras on a 7-2 vote, after the Finance Committee gave preliminary approval to accept a state grant. (WSAW, Sept. 28, 2022; Wausau Pilot & Review, Sept. 7, 2026)
  3. Jan. 2023 First one-year Flock agreement signed; cameras in use from January 2023. (Wausau Pilot & Review, Sept. 7, 2026; WAOW, April 11, 2024)
  4. Sept. 2023 Finance Committee approved a five-year sole-source Flock request 5-0. (Wausau Pilot & Review, Sept. 7, 2026)
  5. Oct. 24, 2023 City Council approved a five-year, $250,000 Flock agreement 9-1, running to Dec. 15, 2028. (Wausau Pilot & Review, Sept. 7, 2026)
  6. May 2026 In May, Wausau police switched off Flock's nationwide network. Out-of-state agencies now get Wausau data only when police approve each release, and federal agencies lost their direct access, according to a police memo. (Wausau Pilot & Review, June 10, 2026)
  7. June 15, 2026 Police presented a memo on the Flock program to the Public Health and Safety Committee for discussion; no action was requested. (Wausau Pilot & Review, June 10, 2026; WSAW, June 15, 2026)
  8. Oct. 2026 Public Health and Safety Committee, on a unanimous voice vote (motion by Alder Kristin Slonski, second by Alder Carol Lukens), recommended withholding the $50,000 Flock payments in the 2027 and 2028 budgets and exploring ways to end the contract. (WSAU's story, posted the evening of Oct. 19, 2026, does not give the meeting date.) (WSAU News/Talk, Oct. 19, 2026)
  9. Oct. 2026 Finance Committee removed the $50,000 Flock payment from the 2027 budget, later in the week of the Oct. 19 committee vote. (WSAU News/Talk, Oct. 26, 2026)
  10. Oct. 2026 City Council voted 9-1 to cut ties with Flock and directed Public Works to cover the cameras within two weeks; Alder Bruce Trueblood voted no. (WSAU calls it Tuesday's vote; the story was posted the evening of Oct. 27, 2026.) (WSAU News/Talk, Oct. 27, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Policy per June 2026 memo: 30-day retention of non-evidentiary data, monthly and annual supervisor audits, searches logged, immigration-related searches filtered. Data shared with about 205-225 Wisconsin agencies (figures differ between Wausau Pilot stories). Cameras are Flock property; Flock is responsible for removal. Status set to 'reducing': the Oct. 27, 2026 council vote ends Flock use and orders the fixed cameras covered (covering and contract termination not yet confirmed), but Axon in-car ALPR on 24 patrol vehicles was reported in Sept. 2026 and no end to it was found. Wausau Pilot (Sept. 2026) describes the five-year contract as approved in October 2023, while a June 2026 story said it 'cannot be terminated for convenience' (consistent).

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

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)