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Milwaukee Cop’s Misuse of Flock ALPR Undercuts Case for Facial Recognition Use

Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) halted its facial‑recognition program while drafting usage policies after a scandal involving an officer who allegedly accessed the city’s Flock automated license‑plate recognition (ALPR) system over 120 times to track a personal acquaintance and 55 times for the acquaintance’s ex‑partner. The misuse, uncovered after a driver spotted repeated plate searches in public records, underscores lax oversight of surveillance tools. MPD’s facial‑recognition partnership with Biometrica is on hold, though the county sheriff’s office has signed a letter of intent to join the network. The accused officer is expected to resign, marking the second ALPR abuse case in Wisconsin.