Minnesota Mass Surveillance: Live ALPR Updates
We track changes to Flock transparency portals, automated license plate reader (ALPR) rosters, and other databases. When cameras are added, locations withheld, or data is shared with new departments - we log and publish each change.
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Isanti County Sheriff's Office dropped off the state's license plate reader roster
Removed from state LPR rosterIsanti County Sheriff's Office is no longer listed on the Minnesota BCA's roster of agencies that use license plate readers. Its entry had listed eight camera locations: - 267th Avenue Northeast at Lyons Street Northeast, Stacy - Minnesota Highway 65 at 248th Avenue Northeast, Isanti - Minnesota Highway 95 at Hornsby Street Northeast, North Branch - Minnesota Highway 95 at Jarvis Street Northwest, Princeton - Minnesota Highway 65 at 421st Avenue Northeast, Braham - Minnesota Highway 47 at 253rd Avenue Northwest, Saint Francis - Minnesota Highway 47 at 421st Avenue Northwest, Ogilvie - 261st Avenue Northwest at Jarvis Street Northwest, Zimmerman Its "other devices with plate-reading capability" field read N/A. In May, the Isanti-Chisago County Star reported that the sheriff's office was running a trial of eight Flock cameras along county roadways, at a cost of $24,000 a year if continued, and that the sheriff would not seek a formal contract from county commissioners unless results justified it. No Flock transparency portal has been found for the office. The roster does not say why the agency was removed. The separate Isanti Police Department remains listed. Sources: - Minnesota BCA, "Agencies that use License Plate Readers (LPR)": https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/data-and-reports/agencies-use-lprs-lpr - Isanti-Chisago County Star, "Sheriff defends Flock camera trial program" (May 21, 2026): https://www.isanti-chisagocountystar.com/news/sheriff-defends-flock-camera-trial-program/article_f62580fb-4192-4eb8-ba83-e0cc5b1564ed.html
What does this mean?
The agency no longer appears on the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's public list of agencies that operate automated license plate readers. This can mean the agency stopped using the technology, or simply that its reporting to the BCA lapsed or was revised. Removal from the roster does not confirm that cameras are gone or that collected data has been destroyed; under Minn. Stat. 13.824, plate reads not tied to an active investigation must be destroyed within 60 days, but an agency may still hold and share records beyond that for qualifying cases. -
Itasca County Sheriff's Office dropped off the state's license plate reader roster
Removed from state LPR rosterItasca County Sheriff's Office is no longer listed on the Minnesota BCA's roster of agencies that use license plate readers. Before it disappeared, its roster entry already listed no camera locations and no other devices with plate-reading capability (both "N/A"). Related earlier changes: - In September, the office's roster entry stopped naming any camera locations: /mn/itasca-county-sheriff/stopped-disclosing-fixed-alpr-locations - In late September, Paul Bunyan Task Force, Spring Lake Park PD and St. Paul PD stopped listing the office as a Flock sharing partner. The roster does not say why the agency was removed. Source: Minnesota BCA, "Agencies that use License Plate Readers (LPR)": https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/data-and-reports/agencies-use-lprs-lpr
What does this mean?
The agency no longer appears on the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's public list of agencies that operate automated license plate readers. This can mean the agency stopped using the technology, or simply that its reporting to the BCA lapsed or was revised. Removal from the roster does not confirm that cameras are gone or that collected data has been destroyed; under Minn. Stat. 13.824, plate reads not tied to an active investigation must be destroyed within 60 days, but an agency may still hold and share records beyond that for qualifying cases. -
St. Paul PD's Flock portal shows zero plate reads but 669 searches
Reduced TransparencySt. Paul PD's Flock transparency portal (transparency.flocksafety.com/st-paul-mn-pd) is still online. Its "last updated" date is November 1, 2026. The portal reports 0 unique vehicles detected over the last 30 days, so St. Paul's own cameras collected no plate reads in that period. It reports 669 search sessions by St. Paul users over the same 30 days. It still lists 1 camera location and 7-day data retention. With no plate reads of its own and a 7-day retention period, St. Paul PD would hold no current data from its own cameras. Its searches would therefore draw on data from other agencies in the Flock network. The portal still lists 53 organizations as having access to St. Paul PD data. They include the Ramsey County, Hennepin County and Anoka County sheriff's offices, the Paul Bunyan Task Force, and the University of Minnesota PD. Context: on August 26, 2026, the mayor and police chief announced that the city's two city-owned Flock cameras would be removed. The portal does not show whether the remaining listed camera is still installed or switched on. Its zero read count is consistent with a camera that is not collecting.
What does this mean?
The agency now discloses less about its license plate readers than it did before. That can mean camera locations withheld from the state BCA roster, metrics or policy details removed from its Flock transparency portal, or counts that go blank or stop updating. Some of this information is reported under Minn. Stat. 13.824 and some is voluntary, and withholding is not by itself a sign the cameras were removed or that the law was broken. It does make it harder for residents to see where the cameras are and how they are used. The underlying records can still be requested under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. -
Le Center PD added to Minnesota's state license plate reader roster
Added to state LPR rosterLe Center Police Department newly appears on the Minnesota BCA roster of agencies that use license plate readers (published under Minn. Stat. 13.824). Its entry lists no fixed or stationary device locations (N/A) and no other surveillance devices with LPR capability (N/A). The roster is vendor-neutral and covers every ALPR vendor; it does not identify Le Center PD's vendor, so this listing does not confirm the agency uses Flock. No Flock transparency portal has been verified for Le Center PD. Detected by a Distill monitor on the BCA page and confirmed against the live BCA page on 2026-10-23.
What does this mean?
The agency was added to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's public list of law enforcement agencies that operate automated license plate readers. Minn. Stat. 13.824 requires agencies using ALPR to report that use to the BCA, including the locations of any stationary cameras, and the BCA must publish the roster. A new listing is often the earliest public sign that an agency has started using the technology, sometimes appearing before any transparency portal exists. The roster covers every ALPR vendor, not just Flock Safety, so a listing alone does not establish which system an agency uses. -
Chaska PD added to Minnesota's state license plate reader roster
Added to state LPR rosterChaska Police Department newly appears on the Minnesota BCA's published list of agencies that use license plate readers (Minn. Stat. 13.824), confirmed on the live page https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/data-and-reports/agencies-use-lprs-lpr. The roster covers every ALPR vendor, not just Flock; Chaska's vendor is not confirmed as Flock, and no Flock transparency portal has been verified for the agency. The listing reports no fixed or stationary device locations and no other surveillance devices with LPR capability.
What does this mean?
The agency was added to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's public list of law enforcement agencies that operate automated license plate readers. Minn. Stat. 13.824 requires agencies using ALPR to report that use to the BCA, including the locations of any stationary cameras, and the BCA must publish the roster. A new listing is often the earliest public sign that an agency has started using the technology, sometimes appearing before any transparency portal exists. The roster covers every ALPR vendor, not just Flock Safety, so a listing alone does not establish which system an agency uses. -
Wadena PD added to the state's license plate reader roster
Added to state LPR rosterThe Wadena Police Department appeared on the Minnesota BCA's list of agencies that use license plate readers, published under Minn. Stat. 13.824. It was not on the list as of Sept. 17, 2026 and was present as of Sept. 21, 2026 (confirmed against the live BCA page on Sept. 22). Its entry lists no fixed or stationary device locations ("N/A") and no other LPR-capable surveillance devices ("N/A"). The BCA roster covers every ALPR vendor, not just Flock Safety. This listing does not establish which vendor Wadena uses; no Flock transparency portal for Wadena PD was found as of this entry.
What does this mean?
The agency was added to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's public list of law enforcement agencies that operate automated license plate readers. Minn. Stat. 13.824 requires agencies using ALPR to report that use to the BCA, including the locations of any stationary cameras, and the BCA must publish the roster. A new listing is often the earliest public sign that an agency has started using the technology, sometimes appearing before any transparency portal exists. The roster covers every ALPR vendor, not just Flock Safety, so a listing alone does not establish which system an agency uses. -
Edina PD stopped disclosing its 34 license plate reader locations on the state roster
Reduced TransparencyEdina PD's entry on the Minnesota BCA roster of agencies that use license plate readers (Minn. Stat. 13.824) used to list 34 fixed or stationary device locations. It now reads: "Location withheld by the police department under Minnesota Statute 13.824, Subdivision 8 (b)." The full list still appeared on Aug. 17, 2026. By Sept. 12, 2026 it had been replaced with the withholding statement, so the change happened between those two dates. FinePrint captured the list before it came down. The 34 previously disclosed locations were: • Eastbound West 44th Street at Curve Avenue • Southbound Xerxes Avenue at West 64th Street • Northbound Wooddale Avenue at West 50th Street • Southbound France Avenue at West 40th Street • Southbound Blake Road at Spruce Road • Westbound West 70th Street at Metro Boulevard • Northbound Tracy Avenue at Highway 62 • Eastbound West 70th Street at Normandale Road • Eastbound West 44th Street at Brookside Avenue • Eastbound West 77th Street at Computer Avenue • Eastbound West 60th Street at Xerxes Avenue South • Westbound Sunnyside Road west of France Avenue South • Westbound West 50th Street at Halifax Avenue • Northbound Wooddale Avenue at West 54th Street • Southdale Mall, West 66th Street (West entrance) • Southdale Mall, West 66th Street (East entrance) • Southdale Mall, York Avenue Park and Ride (northbound entrance) • Southdale Mall, York Avenue (southbound entrance) • Southdale Mall, West 69th Street (East entrance) • Southdale Mall, France Avenue (South Perimeter Road entrance) • Southdale Mall, France Avenue (North Perimeter Road entrance) • Galleria Mall entrance on West 69th Street, Entrance #1 • Galleria Mall entrance on West 69th Street, Entrance #2 • Galleria Mall, West 69th Street, Entrance #3 • Galleria Mall, West 69th Street, Entrance #4 • Galleria Mall, York Avenue, East Entrance #1 • Galleria Mall, York Avenue, East Entrance #2 • Galleria Mall, West 70th Street, East Entrance #1 • Galleria Mall, West 70th Street, Central Entrance #2 • Galleria Mall, West 70th Street, Central Entrance #3 • Northbound Bywood Street West at Interlachen Boulevard • Northbound Rolling Greens Parkway at Interlachen Boulevard • Northbound Merilane Avenue at Interlachen Boulevard • Grime Avenue South at Inglewood Avenue The new entry gives no count of withheld locations. The roster does not say whether any of these devices were removed. The other-device field still reads N/A, and Edina remains on the roster. Withheld status confirmed on the live BCA page on 2026-11-01. Edina PD uses Flock Safety and publishes a Flock transparency portal: https://transparency.flocksafety.com/edina-mn-pd. FlockFeed was not monitoring that portal when the locations were withdrawn; monitoring began Nov. 1, 2026. The BCA roster itself is vendor-neutral, so it does not say whether all 34 listed devices were Flock cameras. Source: MN DPS/BCA, Agencies that use License Plate Readers (LPR): https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/data-and-reports/agencies-use-lprs-lpr
What does this mean?
The agency now discloses less about its license plate readers than it did before. That can mean camera locations withheld from the state BCA roster, metrics or policy details removed from its Flock transparency portal, or counts that go blank or stop updating. Some of this information is reported under Minn. Stat. 13.824 and some is voluntary, and withholding is not by itself a sign the cameras were removed or that the law was broken. It does make it harder for residents to see where the cameras are and how they are used. The underlying records can still be requested under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. -
Crystal PD removed from the MN BCA license plate reader roster
Removed from state LPR rosterCrystal Police Department no longer appears on the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's roster of agencies that use license plate readers (dps.mn.gov, published under Minn. Stat. 13.824). The entry was present in the 2026-09-09 snapshot and gone by 2026-09-11; the live page confirmed its absence on 2026-09-11. The removed entry had listed five fixed or stationary device locations: Bass Lake Road at 58th Avenue North; 36th Avenue North at Welcome Avenue North; West Broadway at 47th Avenue North; Nevada Avenue North at 36th Avenue North; and West Broadway at 60th Avenue North. Its "other devices with LPR capability" field read N/A. This follows Chief Brian Hubbard's September 9, 2026 letter announcing the department had ended its Flock Safety ALPR program and removed its cameras (see the separate went-inactive entry). The BCA roster is vendor-neutral and covers every ALPR vendor, so the removal indicates Crystal PD has reported to the state that it no longer operates any license plate readers.
What does this mean?
The agency no longer appears on the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's public list of agencies that operate automated license plate readers. This can mean the agency stopped using the technology, or simply that its reporting to the BCA lapsed or was revised. Removal from the roster does not confirm that cameras are gone or that collected data has been destroyed; under Minn. Stat. 13.824, plate reads not tied to an active investigation must be destroyed within 60 days, but an agency may still hold and share records beyond that for qualifying cases. -
Crystal PD ends its Flock ALPR program entirely
Went inactiveIn a public letter dated September 9, 2026, Chief Brian Hubbard announced Crystal PD has ended its use of Flock Safety ALPRs entirely, following a community information meeting and public feedback. Rather than pause the program, the department chose full separation: the 6 ALPR cameras have been physically removed and are being returned to Flock Safety, and all existing data sharing with other agencies has been turned off for the remainder of the current retention period.
What does this mean?
The agency's Flock program has stopped, either in part or for good. On the portal that usually shows up as an inactive listing or cameras that no longer report, and behind it is often a contract that was paused, allowed to lapse, or canceled outright. Agencies have ended their Flock relationship after a finished pilot, a budget decision, a council vote, or public pushback, and the same window often brings removals from other agencies' sharing lists. An inactive listing does not mean the cameras or the data are gone. Equipment can stay mounted, and plate reads already collected can stay on file, since Minn. Stat. 13.824 requires destruction within 60 days only for reads not connected to an active criminal investigation. -
Crow Wing County SO stopped disclosing its license plate reader locations on the state roster
Reduced TransparencyCrow Wing County Sheriff's Office replaced the list of camera locations on its Minnesota BCA license plate reader roster entry with this statement: "Locations (4) withheld by the sheriff's office under Minnesota Statute 13.824, Subdivision 8 (b)." The ten locations it had previously published: - State Highway 371 and Oak Drive South, Fort Ripley - State Highway 371 and Ariell Drive, Brainerd - County Road 3 and County Road 49, Brainerd - County Road 11 and Knotty Pine Road, Pequot Lakes - State Highway 371 and 3rd Street, Jenkins - State Highway 6 and Dahler Avenue, Emily - County Road 12 and County Road 8, Deerwood - State Highway 169 and County Road 138, Garrison - 26975 County Road 2, Garrison - 35507 County Road 3, Cross Lake The new entry cites four withheld locations, against ten previously disclosed. The roster does not show whether the office removed six cameras or is reporting differently. Source: Minnesota BCA, "Agencies that use License Plate Readers (LPR)": https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/data-and-reports/agencies-use-lprs-lpr
What does this mean?
The agency now discloses less about its license plate readers than it did before. That can mean camera locations withheld from the state BCA roster, metrics or policy details removed from its Flock transparency portal, or counts that go blank or stop updating. Some of this information is reported under Minn. Stat. 13.824 and some is voluntary, and withholding is not by itself a sign the cameras were removed or that the law was broken. It does make it harder for residents to see where the cameras are and how they are used. The underlying records can still be requested under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. -
Renville County Sheriff's Office removed from Minnesota's state license plate reader roster
Removed from state LPR rosterThe Renville County Sheriff's Office no longer appears on the BCA's published list of Minnesota agencies that report using automated license plate readers under Minn. Stat. 13.824. Its entry previously listed three fixed device locations: State Highway 71 on the Redwood/Renville County line near Morton, State Highway 212 at 570th Street in Stewart, and West Lincoln Avenue at 26th Street in Olivia. On the roster the agency sat between Red Wing PD and Richfield PD; those two entries are now adjacent. The state roster is vendor-neutral — it covers every ALPR vendor, not only Flock — and Renville County's vendor is not confirmed. Separately, on Aug. 23 the agency dropped off the outbound sharing lists of the Paul Bunyan Task Force and Spring Lake Park PD Flock portals.
What does this mean?
The agency no longer appears on the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's public list of agencies that operate automated license plate readers. This can mean the agency stopped using the technology, or simply that its reporting to the BCA lapsed or was revised. Removal from the roster does not confirm that cameras are gone or that collected data has been destroyed; under Minn. Stat. 13.824, plate reads not tied to an active investigation must be destroyed within 60 days, but an agency may still hold and share records beyond that for qualifying cases. -
Caledonia PD added to Minnesota's state license plate reader roster
Added to state LPR rosterThe Caledonia Police Department was added to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's public list of agencies that use automated license plate readers, observed on August 19, 2026. The department lists no cameras and has no Flock transparency portal. The BCA roster covers all ALPR vendors, so Caledonia's vendor has not been confirmed as Flock. Source: Minnesota BCA, "Agencies that use License Plate Readers (LPR)."
What does this mean?
The agency was added to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's public list of law enforcement agencies that operate automated license plate readers. Minn. Stat. 13.824 requires agencies using ALPR to report that use to the BCA, including the locations of any stationary cameras, and the BCA must publish the roster. A new listing is often the earliest public sign that an agency has started using the technology, sometimes appearing before any transparency portal exists. The roster covers every ALPR vendor, not just Flock Safety, so a listing alone does not establish which system an agency uses. -
St. Paul PD's Flock transparency portal went live
Portal went liveThe St. Paul Police Department's Flock transparency portal became publicly available and was first observed on August 12, 2026. Flock does not publish portal launch dates; the portal is understood to have gone live during the first week of August 2026. St. Paul PD also appears on the Minnesota BCA's public roster of agencies that use license plate readers.
What does this mean?
Flock Safety publishes a public transparency portal for each agency that uses its automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras. A new portal usually means the agency has signed a Flock contract and begun deploying cameras, or has started disclosing an existing deployment. Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. 13.824) requires agencies to log their ALPR use and notify the state BCA, which keeps a public list of agencies that operate the cameras. -
Columbia Heights PD went inactive (removed Flock)
Went inactiveColumbia Heights PD's Flock deployment was removed and now shows as inactive. The change surfaced on the sharing lists of West Hennepin Public Safety and Blaine PD, which both listed Columbia Heights as inactive.
What does this mean?
The agency's Flock program has stopped, either in part or for good. On the portal that usually shows up as an inactive listing or cameras that no longer report, and behind it is often a contract that was paused, allowed to lapse, or canceled outright. Agencies have ended their Flock relationship after a finished pilot, a budget decision, a council vote, or public pushback, and the same window often brings removals from other agencies' sharing lists. An inactive listing does not mean the cameras or the data are gone. Equipment can stay mounted, and plate reads already collected can stay on file, since Minn. Stat. 13.824 requires destruction within 60 days only for reads not connected to an active criminal investigation.
