Milwaukee police say Flock queries are now supervisor-only, MPD stopped sharing its data and retention is seven days

What the record establishes

On August 25, 2026, twelve Common Council members wrote to the Fire and Police Commission and the police chief about MPD’s use of Flock cameras. The letter cites officer misuse cases, asks for lists of agencies that share plate-reader data with MPD, outside-agency search histories and system users, and asks whether MPD has adopted seven-day retention. It proposes operating-procedure changes and asks for a response by September 30, 2026. [1]

Mayor Johnson’s August 31, 2026 statement says he is “insisting on significant policy adjustments” and lists six items, including: Flock access limited to supervisors, with no officers or detectives allowed access “at this time”; use limited to Part I crimes, critical missing persons, drug trafficking organization investigations and abductions; access to Milwaukee’s cameras restricted to MPD; and a public dashboard on its Flock use. It says the Fire and Police Commission’s executive director agreed to semiannual independent audits. [2]

Chief Jeffrey Norman’s September 11, 2026 letter to the council members says MPD does not share data from its plate-reader system with any other agency, effective September 1, 2026, and that only supervisors can make queries. It says MPD adopted the recommended seven-day retention period, active as of September 1, 2026 (elsewhere the letter gives September 2), and that queries are limited to the crime types listed in the mayor’s statement. It adds that the sharing restriction does not prohibit an MPD supervisor from collaborating with another jurisdiction on a query for one of those crime types. The same letter says MPD supervisors have access to other law enforcement agencies’ plate-reader feeds in 836 jurisdictions. [3] [2]

The letter declines to provide outside-agency search histories and the list of system users, citing a provision of the operating procedure that limits data disclosure to law enforcement agencies unless a subpoena, court order or discovery rule requires it. It says MPD drafted changes to that procedure, including an explicit prohibition on immigration and reproductive-health queries, a monthly internal audit and the sharing prohibition, and that the draft awaits the chief’s review and the collective-bargaining meet-and-confer process. [3]

What remains unresolved

The operating procedure posted with the Fire and Police Commission file is General Order 2024-44, effective October 7, 2024, which predates these changes; the revised procedure was a draft when the letter was written. The commission closed the file (placed on file) on September 17, 2026. The records do not show the public dashboard, the audit results, or a council-adopted rule. A charter ordinance “relating to contracts for automated license plate reader technology” (file 260809), introduced September 22, 2026, was listed as in the Finance and Personnel Committee when retrieved; its text was not in the retained record. [4] [5] [3] [6]

Sources

1. Common Council members’ letter to the Fire and Police Commission and Chief Norman, August 25, 2026PDF pp.1–3: misuse background, four information requests, proposed procedure changes, September 30 response date, signaturesSource URL: https://milwaukee.legistar1.com/milwaukee/attachments/49abd453-aaee-4853-a78d-180681764668.pdf
2. Statement from Mayor Cavalier Johnson on the use and regulation of Flock cameras in MilwaukeePDF pp.1–2, numbered items 1–6Source URL: https://milwaukee.legistar1.com/milwaukee/attachments/2df8fe90-f92f-4501-be22-4cc5f5889180.pdf
3. Milwaukee Police Department letter to Common Council members on Flock license plate readers, September 11, 2026Scanned PDF p.2, response 1 (sharing, supervisors, 836 jurisdictions); pp.3–4, responses 2–4 and item c (disclosure, seven-day retention, access and query limits, sharing carve-out); p.4, item e (draft procedure changes)Source URL: https://milwaukee.legistar1.com/milwaukee/attachments/f9c2a430-cc35-41cc-a97b-ec7a52b88aa8.pdf
4. Milwaukee Police Department Standard Operating Procedure 735, Automated License Plate ReadersPDF p.1 header: General Order 2024-44, effective October 7, 2024Source URL: https://milwaukee.legistar1.com/milwaukee/attachments/03e8ab5b-538e-4062-b5cc-56c6dc2e3893.pdf
5. Legistar history for Fire and Police Commission file FPC212700JSON: referred September 10, 2026; placed on file September 17, 2026Source URL: https://webapi.legistar.com/v1/milwaukee/matters/74835/histories
6. Legistar record for Common Council file 260809, charter ordinance on plate-reader contractsJSON: MatterTitle, MatterIntroDate 2026-09-22, MatterBodyName, MatterStatusNameSource URL: https://webapi.legistar.com/v1/milwaukee/matters/74956