End Wausau’s license plate camera program

Where things stand

November 10: the city budget passed without Flock. The Common Council adopted the 2027 budget 7 to 4, and the $50,000 Flock payment stayed out, the Wausau Pilot & Review reports. Alders Andrew Wiskowski, Bruce Trueblood, Matt Hoenecke, and Terry Kilian voted no; the Pilot’s story centers on a debate over using reserves to limit new borrowing, not on Flock. One step is left. Leaving the money out doesn’t send Flock notice by itself. The city still has to send written notice under Section 11.16 by Sunday, November 15, so the 30 days run out before the next invoice is dated. No notice has been reported. Please ask your alder to make sure it goes out.

November 10: the county held its money back. On November 10 the County Board voted 30 to 5 to hold the $6,300 for the sheriff’s cameras in contingency until there are rules on sharing, access, audits, and retention. A motion to take the money out entirely failed 17 to 18. We were there, and we haven’t seen a published report of the votes yet. What it means for the county’s cameras

November 9: the cameras are covered. WSAW reports that Department of Public Works crews were seen Monday covering Wausau’s Flock cameras, about two weeks after the council’s vote. Police Chief Matt Barnes told WSAW he was disappointed by the decision and called the cameras an “outstanding” tool, and said losing them makes some investigations harder but doesn’t stop them. WSAW’s headline says the city canceled its contract, but the story doesn’t mention a written termination notice, and we haven’t seen one reported. Covering the cameras stops their use. Ending the contract still takes written notice under Section 11.16, by November 15. Thank you to everyone who wrote, called, and showed up.

October 27: the council voted to cover the cameras. The Common Council voted 9 to 1 for the Public Health and Safety Committee’s resolution “Directing the Wausau Police Department to Cease the Use of Flock Data and to Cover all Flock Cameras.” WSAU reports that Public Works has two weeks to cover the cameras, which would be around November 10, and WSAW reports that the mayor expects every camera to be covered by Veterans Day, November 11. The cameras belong to Flock, so Flock is responsible for taking them down. Alder Bruce Trueblood voted no, citing the risk of legal consequences.

Alder Carol Lukens said the privacy concerns weren’t widely known three years ago, and that she wouldn’t have voted for the cameras had she known then what she knows now. Alder Vicki Tierney said the technology was sold as a crime-fighting tool and has in some ways “become the tool of the bad guy.” Police Chief Matt Barnes told the council he knows of no negative outcomes in other communities that have taken similar action. WSAU didn’t report any discussion of a termination notice, the next payment, or the city attorney. Alder Kristin Slonski has said the city has already paid Flock about $150,000 under the contract.

On October 20 the Finance Committee took the Flock payment out of the 2027 budget 5 to 0, on a motion by Alder Vicki Tierney, according to the committee’s draft minutes. The committee then recommended the budget as a whole to the council, 4 to 1, with Alder Matt Hoenecke voting no. The council holds its public hearing and final vote on the budget on November 10.

October 20: Finance voted to take the money out. The Finance Committee voted to remove the $50,000 Flock payment from the 2027 budget. Alder Vicki Tierney made the motion and Alder Sarah Watson seconded it. It passed 5 to 0, with Alders Michael Martens, Sarah Watson, Tom Neal, Vicki Tierney, and Matt Hoenecke all present, according to the committee’s draft minutes in the November 10 packet. At Finance Director Maryanne Groat’s recommendation, the money goes to underfunded motor pool costs rather than a lower tax levy. Mayor Doug Diny asked the committee to keep the money in public safety, saying, “We have barricades to buy.” Members didn’t discuss whether or when the city would send Flock a termination notice.

Five residents spoke, and all of them asked for the cut. Felix Gallo said more than a dozen Wisconsin agencies have ended or suspended Flock this year, and “Flock has sued zero of them.” Courtney Olson, who leads a domestic violence agency and chairs the Wisconsin Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative, said stalking comes before most intimate partner homicides, and that “a system that records where every car goes becomes a stalking tool in the wrong hands.” Danielle Fischer asked the city not to replace Flock with another plate reader system.

When the payments fall. Groat told the committee that the last invoice, dated December 15, 2025, was charged to the 2026 budget and paid February 6. The two payments left would normally be paid in January 2027 and January 2028. Committee Chair Michael Martens said the vote could address only the 2027 payment, since the final one falls in next year’s budget. Tierney’s motion had first covered both years. As we read this, the invoice dated this December would be paid from the 2027 budget, so the council shouldn’t need a two-thirds vote to amend the 2026 budget. The city attorney should confirm that in writing.

October 19: the committee voted to end Flock. In front of a packed council chamber, and after a closed session with the city’s lawyers, the Public Health and Safety Committee voted 5 to 0 for Alder Kristin Slonski’s motion, seconded by Alder Carol Lukens. The first part asked the Finance Committee to take the Flock money out of the 2027 and 2028 budgets. The Wausau Pilot & Review reports that the second part asks the Common Council to direct police to stop using all 20 cameras right away and bag them. The council’s October 27 agenda confirms that wording.

Slonski said she split the motion because cutting the money alone might not end the program, and that residents have told her they want it ended even if that costs the city. Committee Chair Lou Larson thanked residents for speaking up and said he voted yes because of them. “There was life before Flock and there will be life after Flock,” he said. Alder Bruce Trueblood raised the possibility of a breach of contract and asked whether the county sheriff could put cameras on county roads inside the city. Capt. Ben Graham told the committee he knows of no misuse by Wausau officers and no contract violation by Flock, and he suggested the state set a standard for how long plate data is kept, such as 30, 21, or 7 days. After the meeting he told WSAU the department respects the committee’s decision.

Thank you to everyone who wrote, spoke, and filled the room. Covering the cameras stops their use, and the adopted budget leaves the 2027 payment out, but neither ends the contract. The city still has to send Flock written notice under Section 11.16, by November 15, so the 30 days run out before the next invoice is dated. Keep writing your alder.

District 5 Alder Andrew Wiskowski asked for the committee’s Flock discussion last month, the Wausau Pilot & Review reports. The October 19 packet had no staff recommendation or legal opinion, and Felix’s review was in it, starting on page 14.

The Pilot reports that Alder Wiskowski and Council President Terry Kilian would support leaving the payment out of the budget, though Wiskowski said advice from the city attorney or a strong case from police could change his mind. Alder Matt Hoenecke has said he can’t support the technology. Chief Matt Barnes reads Section 11.16 as covering whether the city is able to pay, not a choice to stop paying.

On the morning of October 19, Felix Gallo, Courtney Olson, and one other resident spoke against Flock during public comment at the Police and Fire Commission.

At the Finance Committee’s budget session on October 6, Alder Tom Neal asked for it to come out, saying, “I would really love to see it off the budget.” Alder Matt Hoenecke agreed, citing privacy and the risk of misuse, and Alder Vicki Tierney asked for more information about the safeguards in place. Council President Terry Kilian has said she would support ending the program by leaving the payment out. Marathon County Sheriff Chad Billeb has said the county will keep its own 10 cameras.

Police Chief Matt Barnes told the committee the city couldn’t leave the contract free of liability and might end up paying anyway. He also said of the cameras that “none of these are in a neighborhood.” Of the 20 cameras volunteers have mapped, 15 have a house within 300 feet, and 122 homes in all sit that close to one. The committee chair, Michael Martens, cautioned that cutting the money could invite litigation. The city attorney presented her own budget later in the same meeting, and the Wausau Pilot & Review reports that no one asked her about Section 11.16.

The proposed 2027 budget doesn’t show Flock as its own line. It sits in the police share of the Central Capital Purchasing Fund, $383,236 for technology and communications, which the budget says covers “flock cameras, radios, video, and vests.” The fund’s contractual services budget is the same $383,236, up $50,000 from the adopted 2026 budget.

On October 13, residents asked both the Finance Committee and the Common Council to stop both remaining payments, send notice under Section 11.16, and get the city attorney’s opinion in writing. The Wausau Pilot & Review reports that no alder responded and the city attorney didn’t address it. The same night, the council voted 9 to 2 for a $50,000 change to the 2026 budget to study moving the police department to the former UW-Stevens Point at Wausau campus. Changing the adopted budget takes a two-thirds vote, 8 of the 11 alders.

District 1 Alder Carol Lukens wrote to the Pilot that the October 15 story was unfair, because public comment is a time for alders to listen rather than debate. She urged residents to attend the October 19 meeting and to “email or call their alders before the budget vote.” The editor agreed on some points and stood by the story. We agree with her advice: come to the meetings and contact your alder.

On October 13, Felix sent every alder, the mayor, the city attorney’s office, and the city clerk five research reports: a map of the cameras by alder district, a survey of Wisconsin agencies that have left Flock, a comparison of Wausau’s contract with the terms Flock offers today, a look at Flock’s claim that it anonymizes the data it keeps, and questions for the city attorney. He asked the clerk to include them in the packets for the budget meetings. Read the reports

Sources: Wausau Pilot & Review, September 30 and October 8, October 14, October 15, October 16 (letter), and October 18, October 19, and October 21, and October 21 (budget), and November 12; WSAU, October 19 and October 26, and October 27; WSAW, October 20, October 29, and November 9; the November 10 Common Council agenda; the October 27 Common Council agenda; The Wausonian, “Flock camera fight emerges from Wausau budget process,” October 10; the October 19 Public Health and Safety Committee agenda and packet. The budget figures are on pages 23 and 163 of the proposed budget, in the October 13 Finance Committee packet. The two-thirds language is in resolution 26-0806, on page 417 of the October 13 Common Council packet.

We oppose vandalizing the cameras

Posts on social media are calling for people to cover, disable, or destroy Flock cameras on Halloween, under names like “Unflock America Day” and “De-Flock America.” Despite the similar name, that campaign has nothing to do with this site, and we oppose it.

Damaging or blocking a camera is a crime, and it gives the program’s supporters an easy argument. It doesn’t work, either. In Waunakee, the police chief took the cameras down after they were vandalized, and he’s now weighing other vendors. The 42 Wisconsin agencies that have ended or decided to end Flock did it through council votes, budget decisions, and the choices of their own chiefs and sheriffs.

Please leave the cameras alone and use the channels that work. Write your alder, come to the Common Council, and speak during public comment if you can. A full room matters even if you don’t say a word. How to take part

Who’s behind this

Unflock Wausau is run by Felix Gallo, a Wausau resident. He wrote the review this site is based on and has sent it to members of the Common Council.