Green Bay unveils new policy for Flock cameras but says they are not going away

Our Take

Credit to WLUK-TV FOX 11 for laying out exactly what's happening in Green Bay: city officials heard the backlash, drafted a policy, and decided the cameras stay regardless. That's the standard playbook when a surveillance program gets too much bad press — offer a document, not a decision. A policy can be rewritten, ignored, or quietly expanded later. Removing the hardware is the only guarantee that it won't be misused.

And misuse isn't hypothetical here. The report points to a former Menasha officer convicted for using Flock to stalk his ex-girlfriend, plus a wave of nearby Wisconsin communities that cut ties with the company after learning how widely their plate data was being shared. Green Bay residents raised exactly these concerns, and the response was essentially 'we hear you, but the cameras aren't going anywhere.' A policy restricting access on paper does nothing to stop an officer who wants to look up an ex, and it does nothing to stop Flock's network from sharing data with other agencies unless that sharing is technically shut off, not just discouraged.

This is the pattern to watch across the country: public pressure forces a 'reform,' and departments respond with rules instead of removal. If you're in Wisconsin or anywhere else watching this play out locally, check our camera map to see what's already deployed near you, and use our take-action guide to push your council for full removal, not just a new policy binder.