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Wisconsin municipalities cancel Flock contracts, and each departure shrinks the shared database for remaining agencies
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Multiple Wisconsin cities and counties have withdrawn from Flock's automated license plate camera system over privacy concerns, and each exit reduces the value of the shared network for the jurisdictions that stay.
Flock's value proposition depends on network effects: each jurisdiction's cameras feed a shared database that 140 or more other agencies can query. As cities withdraw, the database shrinks, making the system less useful to remaining customers and prompting further departures, a cascade that can erode the product's core utility faster than any single contract loss would suggest.
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Dane County cut $80,000 in Flock funding on April 16, removing 24 cameras and cutting off data access for 140 law enforcement agencies across multiple states.
McFarland declined to deploy Flock on May 15, citing a 'shrinking database in Dane County' that eliminated about half the potential camera network.
At least seven Wisconsin jurisdictions cancelled or declined to renew Flock contracts between April and late July, including Oshkosh, Appleton, Fitchburg, Stoughton, and UW-Madison police.
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