Neenah officials hear concerns over Flock cameras, make no decision on contract
The short version: Neenah, WI officials heard both support and pushback on Flock ALPR cameras but tabled any contract decision, leaving residents' surveillance concerns unresolved.
Our Take
Credit to WBAY TV-2 in Green Bay for actually showing up to a Public Services and Safety Committee meeting and letting residents speak on the record. That's more than most local outlets bother to do when a Flock Safety contract is on the table. The fact that Neenah's committee punted rather than rubber-stamping the deal is a small but real win — it means someone in that room was listening to the skeptics instead of just nodding along to the sales pitch.
This is the pattern playing out in city halls all over the country: a vendor promises crime-fighting magic, a council schedules a quiet vote, and then residents find out — sometimes at the last minute — that a network of always-on cameras is about to start logging every car that passes through town, whether or not anyone's suspected of anything. Neenah residents pushing back deserve credit for forcing a pause. A pause is not a rejection, though. Flock and its local champions don't go away after one contentious meeting; they come back with tweaked language and a friendlier vote count next time.
If you're in Neenah or anywhere else watching a similar fight unfold, don't wait for the follow-up meeting to sneak past you. Check our camera map to see what's already been deployed near you, and use our take-action page to find out how to get in front of your own council before the next vote happens without you.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WBAY TV-2 | Green Bay, WI, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.