The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office is throwing its support behind Flock cameras as the company faces backlash across Minnesota and the country, prompting widespread vandalism and broken relationships with other agencies.
Anoka County Sheriff Brad Wise signed a contract with Flock on June 30 that’s under the threshold that requires approval from the Anoka County Board of Commissioners. Some Anoka residents say the reduced cost is an intentional maneuver by the sheriff to avoid gathering public input.
“It’s clear that he was using it to evade the county board’s supervision of it,” Fridley resident Aaron Klemz said of the contract’s cost.
Flock is an Atlanta, Georgia-based company that is partnered with more than 7,000 law enforcement agencies across the country, according to the company.
The company supplies license plate reader cameras and drones that law enforcement agencies use to locate vehicles and help solve crimes. The cameras use artificial intelligence to track vehicles and capture details like license plate information, location and time.
Flock has come under fire after several law enforcement officers across the country abused the camera data by using it to track people. Many Minnesotans are concerned about the potential for federal officials to access local data for immigration enforcement purposes.
The sheriff’s one-year contract with Flock includes 75 license plate readers and 10 drones. The locations for the new cameras have not been determined yet, according to sheriff’s spokesperson Tierney Peters.
Wise initially discussed a $245,000, two-year Flock contract with the Anoka County Board of Commissioners earlier this year. That contract would have required the board’s vote, but Wise’s initial proposal was never presented to the board for an official vote.
The cost of the program was later reduced to $174,500, which means it did not have to be approved by the board of commissioners. The board must review and vote on any contracts exceeding $175,000. Some Anoka County residents say the program’s new budget is an attempt to avoid input from community members who are worried about Flock. The sheriff’s 2026 operating budget will fund the program.
Anoka County Commissioner Mandy Meisner, who represents Columbia Heights, Fridley and Hilltop, said in a Facebook post that she does not support how Wise secured the contract.
“As a County Commissioner, I was neither invited to provide input nor informed of this contract until after it had already been signed,” read her July 8 post. “Instead, the Sheriff decided to move forward under the authority of the Sheriff’s Office. The contract identifies the Sheriff’s Office, not the Anoka County Board, as the client.”
Peters said Wise was not available for a phone interview. She also declined a phone interview, and issued written statements in response to Sahan Journal’s questions.
“He specifically went back to Flock to shrink the length of time from two years to one, and to get it just below the $175,000,” Klemz said of Wise.
Wise’s initial proposal for a two-year pilot program with Flock involved 200 license plate reader cameras and 16 drones.
Anoka County Commissioner Mike Gamache said he was worried about the initial proposal, because it was too expensive. However, he agreed with Wise that the cameras could help solve crimes.
“The sheriff acted as he can,” Gamache said of Wise’s contract with Flock. “I don’t have a problem with the way he did it.”
Peters said in an email that Wise struck a new, lower-cost contract with Flock “to avoid legal ambiguity and to allow the pilot to proceed under his established authority.” The reduced pilot program is a “practical way to test the system,” and the sheriff is “compliant” with the county’s rules, she added.
Peters said there is no plan for how to fund the Flock cameras beyond the one-year mark. Gamache said Wise will need to find additional funding if he plans to extend the program after that.
“That is going to have to be addressed by the county board for future years, and then we’ll have to have that discussion,” Gamache added.
There are 20 cities in Anoka County; most have their own police departments, but some smaller cities rely on the sheriff’s office for policing services.
Cities can opt out of the pilot program, which means cameras and drones will not be deployed in their jurisdictions, Peters said. Flock cameras will not be installed on portions of county roads, which the sheriff’s office oversees, that run through cities that opt out, she added.
Some city officials in Anoka County told Sahan Journal that they are hesitant about the pilot program and have some questions.
“I’m sort of trying to learn about it and weigh the benefits of it versus any costs, whether they’re financial costs or societal costs,” said Anoka City Council Member Erik Skogquist.
Elsewhere in the county, the Columbia Heights City Council voted on June 8 to end its contract with Flock, which was unrelated to the sheriff’s efforts. The city’s discussions were isolated to the Columbia Heights Police Department’s use of Flock cameras, but occurred at the same time Wise introduced his first pitch for a county Flock contract.
Columbia Heights hosted public town hall meetings about Flock earlier this year with police officials. Hundreds of residents attended the meetings to voice concerns for hours. The City Council voted unanimously to cut ties with the company and remove Flock cameras that were already installed in the city.
“The more I got educated on citizens’ concerns and about these other municipalities and what they had gone through, the stronger I felt that we had to protect our residents and cancel the contract,” Columbia Heights City Council Member Rachel James told Sahan Journal.
The Anoka County effort comes in the wake of widespread pushback against Flock.
All eight of Winona’s Flock cameras were reported stolen on Aug. 1, four out of Prior Lake police’s six cameras were damaged over the past few months, three Flock cameras were spraypainted in Edina on Aug. 5, and three cameras in Plymouth were damaged. Since June, six out of nine cameras have been stolen or damaged in Duluth.
Similar incidents have been reported across the country in recent weeks, including in Florida, Iowa, Arizona and Colorado.
“The fact that people around the country are revolting against Flock cameras is an indication of how dangerous these things are,” said Taher Herzallah, who lives in Columbia Heights in Anoka County.
The Winona Police Department plans not to reinstall the stolen cameras. The Duluth Police Department is not renewing its contract with Flock.
West St. Paul City Manager Nate Burkett issued a statement on Aug. 10 announcing the suspension of the city’s contract with Flock and the removal of its cameras. Burkett said in a Facebook post that he decided to end the contract because of residents’ concerns, and that there was “no indication” that the cameras had been misused.
“Trust depends on understanding, and this technology is complex and moving faster than the public conversation about it,” Burkett wrote. “That understanding is not yet there, and until it is, the tool is not worth using.”
