The Department informed Flock Safety of its decision in light of a shrinking database in Dane County and input from residents
MCFARLAND, Wis. – The McFarland Police Department will not move forward with a planned purchase of automated license plate reader technology (ALPR) from Flock Safety. The announcement follows decisions by Dane County and the Monona Police Department to stop using the technology.
ALPR technology allows for the automated detection of license plates to support official law enforcement operations such as identifying stolen vehicles or locating missing or endangered persons. Police departments may choose to share data with each other to aid searches that span multiple jurisdictions.
The McFarland Village Board approved funding for the purchase and operation of the ALPR technology as part of the Police Department’s 2026 budget. The Department is exploring alternative uses for the unspent funds.
On April 16, the Dane County Board of Supervisors voted to remove funding for the County Sheriff’s Office to operate its Flock system. On May 4, the Monona Police Department announced it would not renew its expiring contract with Flock Safety. Those changes mean less data would have been available to law enforcement in McFarland.
“Once Dane County lost their funding for Flock, we lost about half of the potential camera network within Dane County,” McFarland Chief of Police Brian Redman said. “I had to ask ‘Were we still going to get the return on our investment with that loss?’ With the network being chipped away, that wasn’t going to be the case.”
Redman also cited a growing number of McFarland residents sharing concerns about the technology in recent months regarding privacy and Flock Safety’s data sharing practices.
The Department has not made a purchase from Flock Safety and has notified the company of its intention not to pursue a contract.
