Milwaukee police audit shows Flock camera uses | FOX6 News Milwaukee

Our Take

Credit to FOX6 News Milwaukee for getting Milwaukee PD to release a sample audit of its Flock camera searches. But notice the framing: the department chose which "outlier" uses to show reporters, and unsurprisingly they're all tied to serious crimes. That's the standard playbook — departments release the homicide and carjacking hits, not the full log of every officer who ran a plate for a parking dispute, a custody fight, or just because they were curious about a neighbor.

A sample audit isn't an audit. Real accountability means independently auditable logs, public reporting on search volume and justification, and consequences when officers search outside policy — not a department cherry-picking its best headlines in response to pressure. Milwaukee residents deserve to know how many times these cameras were queried, by whom, and why, for every search, not just the ones that make good TV.

This is happening in city after city: a network gets installed quietly, then once people start asking questions, departments respond with curated "look how well it works" packages instead of raw data. If you want to see whether Flock cameras are watching your own neighborhood, check our camera map, and if you want to push your city council for real transparency instead of PR audits, our take-action page has tools to help.