South Lake Minnetonka Police request for Flock Camera installation in Shorewood, MN
The short version: A Minnesota police department pitches Flock ALPRs to Shorewood's council, and residents filming the meeting deserve credit for making that pitch public.
Our Take
Credit where it's due: Shorewood Citizen Advocates did what most local news outlets don't bother to do anymore — they showed up to a city council meeting with a camera and let residents see exactly how the Flock sales pitch gets made. This is the same script that's played out in hundreds of towns: a police department stands up, cites a handful of anecdotes about stolen cars or wanted suspects, and asks elected officials to approve a network of cameras that will log the location of every car that drives through town, whether or not its owner is suspected of anything.
What rarely gets said out loud in these presentations is who actually owns and controls the data once it's collected. Flock's national network lets participating agencies share plate reads across jurisdictions, which means a decision made by five people on the Shorewood City Council can quietly plug local streets into a surveillance system that stretches far beyond Minnesota. Council members asked to approve this are being asked to trust a private company's retention policies, audit practices, and promises about who else gets access — not just their own police department's intentions.
If you live in or near Shorewood, this is the moment to pay attention, not after the cameras are already bolted to poles. Check our camera map to see what's already been deployed near you, and visit our take-action page for tools to push back before your council votes yes on autopilot.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Shorewood Citizen Advocates, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.