One of the biggest issues this election cycle is the use of Flock cameras. Americans express privacy concerns, noting that law enforcement officers have been caught using Flock cameras to stalk significant others or ex-partners and that innocent people have been misidentified as criminals by law enforcement thanks to the devices. In Arizona, two cities recently terminated their contracts with Flock, and Florida will remove Flock cameras from state roads.
The next battleground in the fight against Flock is Wisconsin, where Republican Tom Tiffany and his Democrat opponent, David Crowley, have very different opinions on the issue.
Tom Tiffany vows to pause state funding for Flock cameras on day one, and then establish a task force to establish privacy protections, penalties for misuse, and other safeguards.
In a statement, Tom Tiffany said, "When it comes to Flock, personal privacy needs to come first. Government should not be building an AI surveillance network that tracks law-abiding Wisconsinites everywhere they drive. As governor, I will make this a day one priority by pausing state funding for Flock and bringing together a task force to establish stronger privacy protections, penalties for misuse, limits on data retention and sharing, and safeguards against Communist China and foreign adversaries."
Tiffany then hit his opponent on the issue. "David Crowley has repeatedly sought more red-light cameras, speed cameras, and massive funding increases for automated license plate readers," Tiffany continued. "His answer has always been to give government more power to watch you. I reject that ready-fire-aim approach. Traditional security cameras can help law enforcement solve serious crimes, but public safety cannot become a blank check for warrantless AI government surveillance."
The record shows Tiffany is right about Crowley's love of cameras.
Constant Surveillance Crowley has a record of supporting the use of cameras to track citizens' movements. In 2017, he authored AB 859, a bill that would have allowed the City of Milwaukee to install automated speed enforcement devices, often known as red light cameras. It failed to pass the legislature, but Crowley tried again the next session, proposing the bill once more, only to have it fail to advance beyond a committee vote. Crowley called the legislation the "Safe Roads Save Lives Act," and said it would give law enforcement the "21st century tools they need to crack down on the epidemic of reckless driving."
In 2019, local outlet WISN said Crowley's proposed bill would put 75 red light and speed cameras in Milwaukee alone. They would be installed at 52 intersections and automatically ticket drivers.
During his time as Milwaukee County Executive, Crowley approved the 2021 Capital Budget that included more than $250,000 for automated license plate readers, and in 2022 his budget proposed another $254,235 for the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department for automated license plate readers. That funding ultimately did not make it into the final budget signed by Constant Surveillance Crowley. That pattern repeated itself in 2023. That same year, the Sheriff's Department reported a $56,250 contract with Flock that Crowley did not have to approve.
Last year, Crowley signed a budget that included $142,000 for Flock cameras, and this year's budget included a $156,200 allocation for Flock.
Under Constant Surveillance Crowley's watch, Milwaukee County's Flock budget nearly tripled.
The contrast could not be clearer. Tom Tiffany vows to protect Wisconsinites' privacy and limit Flock cameras while supporting law enforcement and effective public safety. Constant Surveillance David Crowley, on the other hand, wants to spend more of your taxpayer money to install cameras that will trace our every movement while pushing policies to defund the police and be soft on crime.