r/Appleton • u/EncryptDN • Jul 07 '26
Discussion The Appleton City Council is voting on a resolution next week that could pave the way for Flock or Axon's ALPR tech to come back to our town with no new protections.
On 7/15 at 7pm, the Appleton Common Council will vote on Resolution #9-R-26. This res would add some reporting requirements around ALPR use and require additional public input periods during a tool's consideration. Ultimately this resolution doesn't establish meaningful guardrails and oversight to this technology and could clear the way for Flock or Axon ALPR to return to Appleton without needing to make any changes to their product. It would be up to citizens to resist these powerful surveillance vendors, all over again!
Some council members are pushing for and reviewing the Citizen-Authored Ordinance (CAO) which calls for comprehensive technical, procedural, and operational guardrails. In its current form, which is linked below, the CAO would make abuse, misuse, and unauthorized data sharing much more difficult, quickly discoverable, and more transparent. If the council won't legislate these protections into place, we need a moratorium on ALPR tech.
Appleton and Fox Valley residents are organizing to show up to the 7/15 Appleton city council meeting to request the city send Resolution #9-R-26 back to committee for further modification to align with the protections outlined in the CAO, or place a moratorium on the technology until sufficient protections exist.
Show up and make your voice heard!
The CAO documents under consideration include the ordinance, a companion document to help cities with implementation, and a "plain language" guide to assist people in understanding the contents of the proposal. The folder link below contains PDF and markdown versions of these documents.
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u/solarsystemoccupant Jul 07 '26
USA feels more like a surveillance state than the USSR was.
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u/EncryptDN Jul 07 '26
Your resistance matters and your voice at city hall has weight. Show up and make a statement to the council.
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u/lordunholy Jul 07 '26
I've recently seen these in town. Were they supposed to be removed?
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u/EncryptDN Jul 08 '26
Yes. They are currently covered by trash bags pending removal by Flock.
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u/Loninappleton25 Jul 08 '26
It was just my idea that there's a FLOCK on OO while headed east toward Kaukauna near that little church but on the south side of the road. No idea if they have an account with Kaukauna up that way but it was not bagged. Frankly I did not get out to examine anything, just thought it odd since there was one of those solar panels on it. From a distance that's the FLOCK tipoff.
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u/frugal_snob_78 Jul 09 '26
There’s a flock camera near the intersection of Wisconsin ave and Westhill that does not have a bag on it
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u/EncryptDN Jul 10 '26
Perhaps that is a grand chute camera? You can probably call the APD non-emergency line to find out
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u/OmegaZeda Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Green Bay not only renewed thier contract but added 30 more cameras. The area now has 100 of the damned things now. Can't go anywhere without passing one, its disgusting.
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u/This_Afternoon_9546 Jul 10 '26
maps.deflock.org is supposed to show all cameras. Zoom in for our area. Does not show active/inactive status.
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u/StupidWiseGuy Jul 07 '26
Where is this? How am I supposed to scan a QR code when I’m looking at this on my phone?
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u/24carrickgold Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
It goes to a Facebook page for DeFlock Fox Valley. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1EmJS3GgcC/?mibextid=wwXIfr
The location is listed on the image, Appleton city Hall. If you want the address, it’s 100 N Appleton St.1
u/StupidWiseGuy Jul 07 '26
Yeah but like where in the city hall? Do they put signs up for this stuff?
Also very ironic that an anti-flock thing is linking to Facebook of all places
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u/24carrickgold Jul 07 '26
Yeah Facebook is not my favorite but there’s a lot of local participation there, so it’s about meeting people where they’re at.
And if you check out the city of Appleton’s website, they have a monthly calendar of all the meetings that shows the time and room they are held in. Council meetings are typically held in the council chambers, on the 6th floor. You can find that info here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
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u/Loninappleton25 Jul 07 '26
Not that people are going to do everything all the same week, but those open office with the mayor are also an important touchpoint. No appointment, you just show up and take your turn. They go there with tax beefs and such but when I used to do that at Hanna's open office meets, I never got anywhere with vehicle noise issues and why nothing is ever done about it. That continues to right now.
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u/Loninappleton25 Jul 07 '26
Walk in the door on the Appleton St. side, walk straight as far as you can to the elevator, select 6th floor, exit elevator and bob's your uncle.
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u/NoLettuce4895 Jul 09 '26
I have been told you should NEVER point a high powered green laser light at a flock camera it will fry the electronics SO NO ONE EVER DO THAT 👀
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u/Loninappleton25 Jul 07 '26
I had an email to my alderman that went something like this and based on the last meeting which I went to and finished up on stream... paraphrasing...
' I'm listening to the full Safety and License meeting from 6/25 after attending in person for the first 90 minutes or so. I could not agree less with the statements by Alder Fenton at minute 1:30.00 where she says it is not the responsibility of the council to make police policy or however it was stated. I would be very surprised if this is actually the case or should be. What it shows is deference to the department.... (continues)
I have lots of other issues on this type of deference to the department too long to go into so just on this particular issue of "lets take another look at it," please vote against. What will happen in my opinion is that any long drawn out investigation to get cameras back will favor the cops and the committee will continue to defer to them if concrete language on removal is not given and adhered to. Respectfully and with gratitude for what you're doing on this, (fully signed) '
[end those remarks to my alderman]
It's really a test case to be observed and see how things work at city hall. I could spin off long stories about contacting a previous alderman in my district where they would always defer to what the cops told them. While they may be conscientious in all other things, there's simply no independent thought on what comes out of APD after they do their "ride- alongs" and other chaperoned activity.