Callahan calls for statewide Flock camera ban, plans to hold committee hearing

MADISON – This week, State Representative Calvin Callahan (R-Tomahawk) called for Wisconsin to ban “unchecked” governmental use of automated license plate reader camera systems from companies like Flock Safety and said he will hold a committee hearing on the technology early next year.

In a release calling for the discontinuation of the camera systems, Callahan cited “serious concerns over privacy, mass surveillance, government overreach and the collection and sharing of information about law-abiding citizens.”

“What was sold to us as a targeted public safety tool has rapidly evolved into something far more invasive and sometimes out of control, with reports of misuse, mistaken stops and access to data that should concern every Wisconsinite,” Callahan stated.

Flock camera systems

Flock camera systems use captured footage to identify details about vehicles, including a vehicle’s license plate number and plate state, as well as a vehicle’s make, body type, color and other identifiers.

“Regardless of that stated purpose, Wisconsin should be extremely skeptical of any surveillance system, not just Flock, capable of creating searchable records of citizens’ movements simply because they drove down a public street,” the release said.

More than 5,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States utilize Flock systems, creating an interconnected network of tens of thousands of cameras.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, utilizing a nearly $184,000 donation from the Bierman Family Foundation, implemented six Flock cameras on county roadways last year. The Lincoln County Board of Supervisors voted 16-3 to accept the Bierman funds in Oct. 2025. The contribution also covered associated subscription fees for a ten-year period.

Wisconsin municipalities ending camera use; lawsuit filed

Numerous Wisconsin municipalities, including Fond du Lac, Racine, Sheboygan and Winnebago counties, have suspended or ended their contracts with Flock amid privacy and data storage and access concerns.

The City of Stevens Point began covering its Flock cameras earlier this month while local elected officials consider whether to pursue the cancellation of the city’s contract with the company.

Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a conservative law firm known as WILL, filed a lawsuit against several Waukesha County municipalities, claiming that because law enforcement officials were using Flock camera systems without search warrants, citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights were being violated. The suit asks the court to require law enforcement to obtain a search warrant before using the Flock system, with certain exceptions, such as emergencies.

Callahan: Committee hearing will ‘put this surveillance system under the microscope’

Callahan, who serves as the Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Consumer Protection, said he will use his authority as Chairman of the committee to hold a hearing on surveillance cameras when the Legislature returns to session in January, “putting the technology and its use in Wisconsin under legislative scrutiny.”

The hearing will provide the opportunity to “start asking some serious questions about Flock cameras in Wisconsin,” according to Callahan.

“Who has access to this information? Where does it go? How long is it kept? Who is it shared with? And most importantly, why should government have the power to track law-abiding citizens who are suspected of absolutely nothing?” he stated.

Callahan noted that he is “willing to examine whether there is a narrowly tailored path forward for the technology when law enforcement is investigating serious criminal activity.”

“However,” he said, “any such system must include meaningful judicial oversight and clear warrant requirements rather than allowing government agencies unrestricted access to all movements of any citizen.”

Callahan said that although he trusts law enforcement officers, he does not trust a “surveillance system without adequate checks and accountability.”

The camera systems “have no business operating in Wisconsin” if they “cannot operate with warrants, judicial oversight, strict limits on data retention and real accountability,” according to Callahan.

“The government does not need to know where you’re going, when you’re going there or how often you go,” Callahan stated. “You should not have to surrender your privacy simply because you got behind the wheel of your car. … Come January, the Consumer Protection Committee is going to put this surveillance system under the microscope.”