Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office Ends Use of Flock Cameras
Published: August 13th, 2026.
SHERBURNE COUNTY: The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office has ended its use of automated license plate reader cameras and is discontinuing its agreement with Flock Safety, citing concerns over public trust and growing backlash surrounding how data collected by the technology has been used by some agencies.
Commander Ben Zawacki said the sheriff’s office believes license plate readers can be a useful public safety tool but does not want concerns surrounding the technology to damage its relationship with the communities it serves.
“While we believe license plate readers can be a useful tool for public safety, there has been a growing backlash against how some agencies have used the data collected by the cameras,” Zawacki said in a statement released Thursday.
The sheriff’s office had been participating in the license plate reader program on a trial basis using grant funding. According to Zawacki, continuing the program after the trial period would have required the county to use taxpayer dollars.
As of Wednesday morning, the sheriff’s office had discontinued services with Flock Safety and disabled its ability to search camera data. The office also began the process of shutting off power to and removing the cameras.
The decision comes amid broader scrutiny in Minnesota and elsewhere over automated license plate reader systems and how information collected by the cameras can be accessed and used.