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A Special Committee of the Whole meeting has been scheduled for 6 PM Tuesday in Plymouth City Hall in order to discuss the city’s agreement with Flock Group, Inc. The official agenda says that “In light of recent discussions among law enforcement agencies across the state regarding Flock Group, Inc., the Plymouth Police Department is proactively bringing its contract before the Common Council to provide information, answer questions, and receive feedback.
Plymouth entered its agreement with Flock in February of 2025 at a cost of $16,400, with annual renewal priced at $12,000. According to Chief of Police, Ken Ruggles, the information gathered has increased accuracy and shortened the time it takes to locate and identify suspects, and has been instrumental in solving cases of fraud and theft, multiple vehicle entries, finding a sex offender who failed to register his actual address with the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry, and several hit-and-run incidents. The most recent of the latter occurred during the past Sheboygan County Fair, where Flock provided the image of the vehicle with accurate license plate information leaving the City within 15 minutes of the collision.
The Chief added that safeguards and procedures were implemented to ensure against misuse of Flock data, and that there is no reason to believe that Flock data has been misused.
Four options were outlined for the Committee of the Whole to consider:
- Discuss potential renewal of the Flock Group, Inc. contract prior to its expiration in 2027, likely in the March 2027 timeframe.
- Consider changes to the City’s use of Flock technology prior to the expiration of the current contract.
- Request additional information or responses to questions identified by the Common Council, with staff reporting back at a future meeting.
- A combination of the above or other direction as determined by the Common Council.
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