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Racine Flock cameras contract debate opened to public

By
Racine Police Department
Published September 8, 2026 7:17 PM CDT
Published September 8, 2026 7:17 PM CDT
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The Brief

    • Racine's Personnel and Finance Committee met to debate the city's Flock camera contract.
    • The meeting was originally intended to be closed session, but the committee opened it up for public transparency.
    • The committee will make a recommendation before a final Common Council vote on Sept. 15.

RACINE, Wis. - Racine's Personnel and Finance Committee met at City Hall Tuesday night to decide the future of the city's Flock cameras.

Racine Flock debate

The backstory:

Leaders debated the city's contract for Flock automated license plate readers. The police chief, city attorney and finance department outlined how renegotiating or terminating the deal affects the city.

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The meeting was intended to be in closed session, preventing the public and media from attending or accessing recordings, but leaders voted to open it. 

It comes after the city of Kenosha and Racine County covered or removed their Flock cameras last week to switch to other vendors.

Flock camera

Meeting open to public

What they're saying:

While closed sessions are standard for contract talks, Ald. Nathan Pabon urged the Finance and Personnel Committee to vote to open the meeting for full transparency.

"When you have (Flock) systems like this, there are chances for abuse and we have seen that not just here in the city but across the state and in other areas of the country," Pabon said. "I do think it is of public interest to hear what the chief has to say, along with any other potential Flock representatives that may be there and then the community discussion that happens around it. That decision there will affect the entire city and the way that we use those for policing and whether or not they stay."

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What was decided?

What's next:

The decision of the Finance and Personnel Committee is just a recommendation. The Common Council has the power to approve or deny and modify that decision on Sept. 15.

Check back here for updates on that decision.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Ben Hanson and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.

The Source: Information in this story was gathered from the Personnel and Finance Committee, Alderman Nathan Pabon and the Racine Common Council.

Racine Police DepartmentRacineNews