Milwaukee alders demand answers on Flock cameras

There's new questions about the cameras watching you. One Wisconsin city covers them up. Another demands some answers and a U. S. Senator launches his own internal investigation. Jason Kelby in the newsroom with what we need to know tonight. Hi, Jason. Hey, Mary. Hey, Ben. We've told you about police officers charged with misuse of the flock system. One former Milwaukee officer was convicted of spying on a romantic partner and that partners acts more than 179 times. Another is facing charges and the Milwaukee Common Council says a third officer is being investigated. And last week, prosecutors charged a former Kenosha County deputy with using the flock system to track a co worker for personal reasons. Flock cameras scan and take photos of license plates going by and police can then search the database to pinpoint locations. 12 of the 15 members of the Milwaukee Common Council demand the city's police chief and the fire and police commission answer questions. The altar alders gave a september 30th deadline. They say they want to use the information to decide about funding when they craft the city's next budget this fall. Alder woman Marina Dimitrovich tells me possibilities include defunding or even canceling the program. But she says it's too early to say what's next as she says she wants to hear from MPD. There's also been misuse to stalk predominantly women. I'm very worried about the fact that most of these abuse allegations have been used in a domestic violence way to stalk women and former partners. You have to balance that with what is possibly a public good and the police department and the fire and police commission will have to make the case that there is much more valuable technology being used here than the negative consequences that we've seen. So I'll show you this video. Check this out. Those are bags covering Sheboygan's 15 flock cameras. This wasn't a vandal but actually the city of Sheboygan's police chief and the city covering them up. The chief there will ask the city's common council to end the city's contract with flocks with flock. He accuses flock of breaking their contract and we're waiting to hear back from the company. But back in the spring, the flock told us that the system helps solve crime and that it partners with over 200 Wisconsin agencies. The company also states that bad actors have been held accountable. Sheboygan's chief says they've used the cameras to solve crimes, find stolen stolen cars and arrest violent criminals. So we did ask MPD to respond to the Milwaukee Common Council letter. It says the department will respond after they have carefully reviewed the request and the fire and police commission is auditing the city's flock program to randomly check if searches have been for valid police investigations. Mary. All right, Jason, thank you for the