Appleton Council Votes Wednesday on Citywide License Plate Reader Ban as Oshkosh Rewrites Its Own

Appleton's Common Council will vote Wednesday, Oct. 21, on a resolution that would bar the city from buying, installing, operating, using or funding automated license plate readers, NBC 26 reported. Exceptions would cover parking enforcement, gates to restricted nonpublic areas and weigh-station entrances used to regulate commercial trucks. Alder Adrian Stancil-Martin, who submitted it, said residents have been asking for it.

The resolution cites privacy, civil liberties, the potential for misuse and public records concerns. It also objects to networked plate-reader systems that let police search or monitor vehicles outside the jurisdiction where an incident happened.

From guardrails to a ban

The vote would cap a four-month turn in Appleton's position. In June, the council's Safety and Licensing Committee rejected an outright ban proposed by Alder Nate Wolff and instead voted 4-0 for oversight and accountability standards drafted by Alders Denise Fenton and Katie Van Zeeland. Police Chief Polly Olson argued then for rules, oversight and accountability in place of eliminating the technology. The city stopped using its Flock Safety cameras June 30.

In July, the full council voted to stop payments to Flock and sent the oversight standards back to committee. Alder Vered Meltzer then proposed four pages of amendments drawn from an ordinance written by Fox Valley residents, including a warrant requirement for data older than 24 hours and a ban on sharing data with federal agencies without a warrant. Mayor Jake Woodford and Olson said in a memo that cameras under city jurisdiction had been removed or covered.

The police department also pushed back on claims that it planned to swap Flock for Axon, calling that suggestion inaccurate and saying it hadn't sought an Axon contract.

Fenton said she has moved past "saying we need guardrails" and no longer thinks the city needs plate readers at all. Community organizer Cari Tetzlaff put it more bluntly: "The time to ban is now."

Oshkosh pulls its measure to strengthen it

Oshkosh's Common Council tabled a narrower resolution Tuesday, Oct. 13, after several members said they wanted something closer to Appleton's. Deputy Mayor Karl Buelow's Resolution 26-458 would have barred the city from buying, leasing, subscribing to, operating or renewing plate readers for criminal investigations unless the council approved them by a new resolution backed by a written policy on access, retention, auditing, data sharing and penalties for misuse.

Council members Jacob Amos, Alec Lefeber, Brad Spanbauer and Joe Stephenson wanted tighter limits, according to FOX 11. Stephenson said Appleton's version limits use to parking enforcement, NBC 26 reported. Council member Paul Esslinger opposed the restrictions and said the cameras had helped police, citing the Oshkosh arrest of one of Wisconsin's most-wanted fugitives. Mayor Matt Mugerauer also opposed them, called the opposition a small and vocal minority, and pointed to Green Bay's decision to keep its cameras.

Oshkosh already dropped Flock in April after Police Chief Dean Smith found that a company representative had lied about the cameras' capabilities, FOX 11 reported. The city's 25 cameras were deactivated and covered. Smith declined to tell the council whether he supports the resolution. A rewritten version is expected in November.

Green Bay stays the outlier

Appleton and Oshkosh join a string of Fox Valley cities that have walked away from Flock. Menasha's mayor ordered its cameras covered, and Neenah's council voted unanimously to drop its 12-camera, $30,000-a-year contract in September. Green Bay kept its 42 cameras under an updated policy, while De Pere ended its contract.

Green Bay Keeps Flock Cameras as De Pere Walks Away

De Pere ends its Flock contract Nov. 15. Green Bay keeps 42 cameras under new rules as a federal judge and Wisconsin towns turn away.

Fox Watershed

Green Bay is also one of four cities named in a petition the ACLU of Wisconsin and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed with the Wisconsin Supreme Court this week, along with Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha. Filed for the Wisconsin Council of Churches and Green Bay pastor Melissa Pagel, it asks the court to require a warrant before police search stored plate-reader data. The court must first decide whether to take the case. Green Bay declined to comment, and Flock said more than 45 courts have found fixed plate readers don't violate the Fourth Amendment.

State law offers no statewide rule yet. Assembly Bill 576, a Democratic bill that would have limited plate readers and required warrants to access their data, failed when the legislative session ended in March. Neenah's police chief said his city won't consider a replacement until the state acts, so the next chance for a statewide rule comes when lawmakers start a new session in January.