All changes · Page 3 of 6
-
Woodbury PD's BCA-disclosed license plate reader location list grew by three
Camera locations disclosedWoodbury PD's entry on the Minnesota BCA license plate reader roster now lists three more camera locations: - Bielenberg Drive at Stephens Way - Bielenberg Drive at Tamarack Road - Tamarack Road at Interstate 494 In the same edit, a garbled, duplicated entry ("Weir Drive at Tamarack Road southbound / Weir Drive at Valley Creek Road / Weir Drive at Tamarack Road") was cleaned up to a single "Weir Drive at Valley Creek Road" entry. Woodbury's own transparency portal, linked from its city ALPR page, identifies Flock as the vendor. 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's entry on the Minnesota BCA's public roster of license plate reader users now names camera locations it did not list before. Minn. Stat. 13.824 requires agencies to report where their permanently mounted readers are, and the BCA publishes those locations. A newly listed location can mean a new camera went up, or an existing camera was reported for the first time; the roster does not say which. The roster covers every ALPR vendor, not just Flock Safety, so a listing does not by itself show which company's cameras are at a location. -
Stillwater PD's ALPR audit reported zero findings
Independent audit publishedIndependent audit by the Minnesota Security Consortium (MNSec) reported no findings across all statutory controls. A zero-findings result is the norm in Minnesota, where roughly four in five audits clear the agency, and it often reflects a checklist review rather than substantive oversight. The audit covered 17 stationary Flock units and a stated period of 8/1/24 to 7/31/26, though the same report says the department installed its Flock system in 2025 and never reconciles the two dates.
What does this mean?
Minn. Stat. 13.824 subd. 6 requires every agency that operates ALPRs to obtain an independent audit at least every two years, checking that data is properly classified, used only for authorized purposes, destroyed on schedule, and that each query had a documented reason, with results due to state officials within 30 days. The audit is one of the few outside checks on how an agency actually runs its cameras. In practice most Minnesota audits report zero findings, often on a boilerplate template that clears nearly every agency it reviews, so a clean audit usually reflects a light-touch review rather than proof the program meets the intent of the statute. FinePrint's ALPR Audit Watch tracks each agency's audit date, auditor, and findings count. - Camera(s) added
Maplewood PD's entry on the Minnesota BCA roster of agencies that use license plate readers went from listing no fixed devices ("N/A") to listing 17 fixed or stationary reader locations. The change was detected 2026-09-05; the previous snapshot with no locations was 2026-09-03. Locations as reported to the BCA: • White Bear Avenue North at County Road D East (northbound) • White Bear Avenue North at Cope Avenue East (northbound) • White Bear Avenue North at Gervais Avenue (southbound) • Minnesota Highway 61 North at County Road D East (southbound) • Minnesota Highway 61 North at County Road D East (northbound) • Frost Avenue at English Street (eastbound) • Minnesota Highway 61 North at Roselawn Avenue East (southbound) • Minnesota Highway 61 North at Roselawn Avenue East (northbound) • White Bear Avenue North at Larpenteur Avenue East (northbound) • White Bear Avenue North at Larpenteur Avenue East (southbound) • Stillwater Road East at Minnehaha Avenue East (southbound) • Larpenteur Avenue East at Interstate 35E Service Road (westbound) • McKnight Road North at Larpenteur Avenue East (northbound) • McKnight Road South at Lower Afton Road (northbound) • Century Avenue North at Brookview Drive (northbound) • Rice Street North at Larpenteur Avenue West (northbound) • Larpenteur Avenue West at Sylvan Street (westbound) The cameras appear to be installed but not in use. A City of Maplewood statement titled "Flock Safety Automated License Plate Readers" says the city does not currently have any active Flock cameras, that some equipment has been installed but is not collecting or storing data, and that the infrastructure would let the city activate the system later if it decides that is necessary for public safety. The same statement says the Maplewood Police Department is activating a public Flock transparency portal covering its policy, retention period, and sharing partners, and that the city does not share Flock data with ICE. No Maplewood portal has been found yet; when one goes live it will be logged as a separate update. Maplewood was already on the BCA roster before this change; only the location disclosure is new. The roster itself is vendor-neutral, but the city's statement confirms the equipment is Flock Safety. Sources: • BCA roster: https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/data-and-reports/agencies-use-lprs-lpr • City of Maplewood statement: https://maplewoodmn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/38408/Flock-Safety-Automated-License-Plate-Readers
What does this mean?
The number of ALPR cameras the agency operates went up. Each camera photographs every passing vehicle and records its plate, make, model, and color, whether or not the vehicle is on a hotlist. Adding cameras puts more local roads under automated tracking, and Minnesota requires agencies to report stationary camera locations to the state BCA. -
Saint Paul PD stopped sharing with Crystal PD
Stopped sharing with an agencyCrystal MN PD was removed from the list of organizations granted access to Saint Paul Police Department (MN) data, taking the sharing list from 59 organizations to 58. It was deleted from the list entirely rather than tagged [Inactive]. Everything else on the portal was unchanged from the previous snapshot (2026-08-25): 1 fixed LPR location, 7-day retention, the same hotlist sources (NCMEC Amber Alert, FBI National Hotlist, MN BCA), and the same policy text. The change was detected 2026-09-05 and occurred sometime after 2026-08-25. This is the third monitored portal to drop Crystal in the same window — Paul Bunyan Task Force and Spring Lake Park PD both removed it on 2026-09-04 — which points to a change on Crystal's side rather than separate decisions by each portal owner. Crystal PD's own portal is not monitored, so it is not confirmed whether Crystal left the Flock network or only these sharing agreements ended.
What does this mean?
The agency removed a sharing partner, narrowing who can search its plate data. This can follow a policy change, public pressure, or a contract decision. -
Paul Bunyan Task Force stopped sharing with Crystal PD
Stopped sharing with an agencyCrystal MN PD was removed from the list of organizations granted access to Paul Bunyan Task Force MN data, taking the task force's sharing network from 65 organizations to 64. Crystal had been added to the list on 2026-07-31, so the sharing relationship lasted about five weeks. It was deleted from the list entirely rather than tagged [Inactive]. Everything else on the portal was unchanged from the previous snapshot (2026-08-26): 22 cameras, 30-day retention, the same hotlist sources (NCMEC Amber Alert, MN BCA), and the same policy text. Brooklyn Park MN PD and Columbia Heights MN PD remain flagged inactive. Crystal PD's own portal is not monitored, so it is not confirmed whether Crystal left the Flock network or only this sharing agreement ended; no other monitored portal reported a Crystal change in the same window.
What does this mean?
The agency removed a sharing partner, narrowing who can search its plate data. This can follow a policy change, public pressure, or a contract decision. -
Spring Lake Park PD stopped sharing with Crystal PD
Stopped sharing with an agencyCrystal MN PD was removed from the list of organizations granted access to Spring Lake Park MN PD data, taking the sharing list from 54 organizations to 53. It was deleted from the list entirely rather than tagged [Inactive]. Everything else on the portal was unchanged from the previous snapshot (2026-08-23): 2 cameras, 30-day retention, the same hotlist sources (NCMEC Amber Alert, MN BCA), and the same policy text. Brooklyn Park MN PD and Columbia Heights MN PD remain flagged inactive. Crystal was also removed from the Paul Bunyan Task Force sharing list in the same window (logged 2026-09-04), which points to a change on Crystal's side rather than separate decisions by each portal owner. Crystal PD's own portal is not monitored, so it is not confirmed whether Crystal left the Flock network or only these sharing agreements ended.
What does this mean?
The agency removed a sharing partner, narrowing who can search its plate data. This can follow a policy change, public pressure, or a contract decision. -
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. -
Hennepin County Sheriff's Office dropped a license plate reader location from the state roster
Camera locations removedHennepin County Sheriff's Office's entry on the Minnesota BCA license plate reader roster now lists one camera location, down from two. No longer listed: - Fremont Avenue N. at Dowling Avenue N., Minneapolis Still listed: - Penn Avenue at 40th Street, Minneapolis 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?
One or more camera locations no longer appear on the agency's entry in the Minnesota BCA's public roster of license plate reader users. A dropped location can mean a camera was taken down or moved, or that the listing was only edited; the roster does not say which. Plate reads already collected can stay on file, since Minn. Stat. 13.824 requires destruction within 60 days only for reads not tied to an active investigation. The roster covers every ALPR vendor, not just Flock Safety. -
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. -
St. Paul PD stopped disclosing any license plate reader locations on the state roster
Camera locations removedSt. Paul PD's entry on the Minnesota BCA license plate reader roster no longer names any camera locations. The field now reads "N/A." It previously listed: - Kellogg Boulevard at Smith Avenue North (2) The field for other surveillance devices with license plate reading capability still reads "N/A." The day before, on August 26, 2026, the mayor and police chief announced that the city's two city-owned Flock cameras would be 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?
One or more camera locations no longer appear on the agency's entry in the Minnesota BCA's public roster of license plate reader users. A dropped location can mean a camera was taken down or moved, or that the listing was only edited; the roster does not say which. Plate reads already collected can stay on file, since Minn. Stat. 13.824 requires destruction within 60 days only for reads not tied to an active investigation. The roster covers every ALPR vendor, not just Flock Safety. -
St. Paul PD announced it will remove its two city-owned Flock cameras
OtherAfter a City Council meeting on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, Mayor Kaohly Her and the police chief announced that the city's two city-owned Flock cameras would be taken down. KSTP reports the council voted unanimously on a resolution. Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said the county's 10 cameras in St. Paul will stay, because the resolution does not require his office to remove them. The articles published August 26-27 do not give a removal date for the two city cameras. Sources: KSTP (kstp.com, Aug 26, 2026); CBS Minnesota (cbsnews.com/minnesota, Aug 27, 2026).
What does this mean?
A change that does not fit the standard categories. See the update's details for specifics. -
Paul Bunyan Task Force stopped sharing with Dakota County SO and Renville County SO
Stopped sharing with an agencyDakota County MN SO and Renville County SO were removed from the list of organizations granted access to Paul Bunyan Task Force MN data. Camera count (22), 30-day retention, hotlist sources (NCMEC Amber Alert, MN BCA) and the portal's policy text were unchanged from the previous snapshot (2026-08-19). The same two removals appeared on the Spring Lake Park PD portal in the same detection window, which points to a change on Dakota County's and Renville County's side rather than separate decisions by each portal owner. Both were deleted from the list entirely rather than tagged [Inactive]. Neither agency's own portal is monitored, so it is not confirmed whether they left the Flock network or only ended these sharing agreements.
What does this mean?
The agency removed a sharing partner, narrowing who can search its plate data. This can follow a policy change, public pressure, or a contract decision. -
Paul Bunyan Task Force updated its linked Beltrami County SO ALPR policy to the 2026 policy manual
Usage/access policy changedThe "Beltrami County SO Policy" link in the portal's More Info section changed from an older PDF on the county's previous website (co.beltrami.mn.us) to the 2026 BCSO Policy Manual on the county's current site (beltramicountymn.gov/media/wpchq1rb/2026-bcso-policy-manual.pdf). The ALPR policy text published on the portal itself was unchanged; only the linked full-policy document moved and now points to the 2026 edition of the manual.
What does this mean?
The agency changed the written rules for how its cameras and data may be used, including who can run a search, what justification is required, and how access is logged. Minn. Stat. 13.824 limits ALPR use to legitimate law enforcement purposes and requires a recorded audit trail of every query, so policy edits can widen or narrow surveillance even when the cameras stay the same. -
Spring Lake Park PD stopped sharing with Dakota County SO and Renville County SO
Stopped sharing with an agencyDakota County MN SO and Renville County SO were removed from the list of organizations granted access to Spring Lake Park MN PD data. The rest of the portal - 2 cameras, 30-day retention, hotlist sources (NCMEC Amber Alert, MN BCA) and all policy text - was unchanged from the previous snapshot (2026-08-18). The same two removals appeared on the Paul Bunyan Task Force portal in the same detection window, which points to a change on Dakota County's and Renville County's side rather than separate decisions by each portal owner. Unlike Brooklyn Park and Columbia Heights, which remain on the list tagged [Inactive], both were deleted from the list entirely. Neither agency's own portal is monitored, so it is not confirmed whether they left the Flock network or only ended these sharing agreements.
What does this mean?
The agency removed a sharing partner, narrowing who can search its plate data. This can follow a policy change, public pressure, or a contract decision. -
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. -
Hennepin County Sheriff's Office went from 4 to 2 cameras
Camera(s) removedThe portal's Total Cameras count dropped from 4 to 2. Everything else on the portal — 30-day retention, hotlist sources (NCMEC Amber Alert, MN BCA), and the acceptable use, prohibited use, access and hotlist policies — was unchanged from the previous snapshot (2026-07-29).
What does this mean?
The agency's camera count went down. Cameras may have been moved, decommissioned, or pulled after a pilot. A lower count does not by itself undo earlier data sharing, because plate reads already collected can stay on file until the 60-day destruction deadline in Minn. Stat. 13.824. -
Paul Bunyan Task Force stopped sharing with South St. Paul PD
Stopped sharing with an agencySouth Saint Paul MN PD was removed from the list of organizations granted access to Paul Bunyan Task Force MN data, taking the task force's sharing network from 68 organizations to 67. Everything else on the portal was unchanged: 22 cameras, 30-day retention, the same hotlist sources (NCMEC Amber Alert, MN BCA), and the same acceptable use, prohibited use, access and hotlist policy text. Two partners on the list remain flagged inactive (Brooklyn Park MN PD and Columbia Heights MN PD). South St. Paul was also removed from Spring Lake Park PD's sharing list within the same 24-hour window, which points to a change on South St. Paul's side rather than two separate decisions; unlike Brooklyn Park and Columbia Heights it was deleted from the list entirely rather than tagged [Inactive]. South St. Paul PD's own transparency portal could not be checked during this run, so its status has been left as Active pending verification.
What does this mean?
The agency removed a sharing partner, narrowing who can search its plate data. This can follow a policy change, public pressure, or a contract decision. -
Spring Lake Park PD stopped sharing with South St. Paul PD
Stopped sharing with an agencySouth Saint Paul MN PD was removed from the list of organizations granted access to Spring Lake Park MN PD data, leaving 55 partner agencies. The rest of the portal — 2 cameras, 30-day retention, hotlist sources and policy text — was unchanged from the previous snapshot (2026-07-28).
What does this mean?
The agency removed a sharing partner, narrowing who can search its plate data. This can follow a policy change, public pressure, or a contract decision. -
St. Louis Park PD lost inbound data access from Robbinsdale PD
Stopped sharing with an agencyRobbinsdale MN PD no longer appears under "Receiving Network Data From" on the St. Louis Park MN PD transparency portal, meaning Robbinsdale has stopped sharing its Flock data with St. Louis Park. St. Louis Park still lists Robbinsdale MN PD under "Sharing Network Data With," so the relationship is now one-directional: St. Louis Park shares out to Robbinsdale but no longer receives Robbinsdale data. No other sharing-list entries changed.
What does this mean?
The agency removed a sharing partner, narrowing who can search its plate data. This can follow a policy change, public pressure, or a contract decision. -
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.