Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office Pulls Plug On Flock Cameras as Statewide Backlash Grows

(KNSI) – The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office has stopped using automated license plate reader cameras and is ending its services agreement with Flock Safety, citing concern that the technology was damaging public trust.

Commander Ben Zawacki said the office discontinued services with Flock as of Wednesday morning, disabled camera search capabilities and began the process of shutting off power to the cameras and removing them.

Zawacki framed the decision as one about community relationships rather than the technology itself.

“While we believe license plate readers can be a useful tool for public safety, there has been a growing backlash against how some agencies have used the data collected by the cameras,” Zawacki said. “We put a high value on our relationship with the people in the communities we serve. We don’t want to erode the trust that we have with them.”

Cost was also a factor. The sheriff’s office was participating in the license plate reader program on a trial basis using grant money, Zawacki said. Once that trial period ended, the county would have had to commit taxpayer dollars to keep the cameras running.

As of January, the sheriff’s office operated nine automated license plate readers, according to Minnesota Department of Public Safety records, including two in south St. Cloud.

The cameras photograph passing vehicles and convert plate numbers into searchable text, along with details such as make, model and color. Law enforcement agencies can then search that data and, in many cases, share it across jurisdictions. Flock Safety says its cameras do not use facial recognition.

Sherburne County joins a lengthening list of Minnesota agencies stepping back from the technology. At least seven Minnesota communities have reported vandalism to their Flock cameras in recent weeks, and Duluth became the state’s largest city to pull the plug on the program.

Winona has reported eight damaged cameras and Edina six, and a Faribault man has been charged with stealing one of the devices. A camera pole outside St. Cloud was found cut off near the ground earlier this month.

The pushback is national. More than 50 agencies or jurisdictions have canceled, suspended or rejected a Flock contract or deactivated their cameras since the beginning of the year, according to a tracker kept by DeFlock, a grassroots group that maps license plate reader locations.

Much of the criticism centers on concerns that the data can be reached for immigration enforcement or used for unauthorized tracking. Flock Safety announced Thursday that it is changing its platform to address privacy concerns and documented misuse of the system by some law enforcement officers.

The cameras remain in use elsewhere in the St. Cloud area. The St. Cloud Police Department, Sartell and Waite Park operate more than 20 license plate readers between them.

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