Brooklyn Park Police: ALPR Tech Keeps Residents Safer

There’s been a lot of controversy lately surrounding Flock Safety’s automated license plate readers (ALPR).

The technology can scan hundreds of plates per minute and be used to solve crimes more quickly than traditional methods.

However, several local police departments have moved away from it, including Plymouth and Crystal recently.

Brooklyn Park police backed away from Flock Safety last year after a one-year contract.

The concern wasn’t necessarily with the technology itself. Instead, Brooklyn Park police raised concerns about the Atlanta-based company’s data sharing practices.

“I credit our police department in being proactive in really raising the concerns because it really hadn’t been talked about publicly, but they certainly are now,” said Brooklyn Park Deputy Police Chief Elliot Faust at Monday’s Sept. 28 city council meeting. “I think we’re a little bit ahead of the game with being able to diagnose there was something not quite right.”

Brooklyn Park switched to Axon, a company the department also contracts with for its Tasers, body cameras and its records management system.

How Data Sharing Is Restricted

Faust said Axon is “fundamentally different than Flock,” especially around data sharing.

He pointed out that data from Brooklyn Park’s cameras are not openly shared with other agencies.

“That is the piece that people are extremely uncomfortable about, is the data of our community being shared broadly without strict guardrails,” said Faust. “Axon does things much differently. We don’t share at all broadly.”

Faust said officers must document a case number and articulate a factual basis for each access to the system.

That access, he said, must be based on reasonable suspicion that it’s related to a criminal investigation.

Brooklyn Park police also took stricter steps with its data retention policy.

The department retains license plate data for 30 days, half the 60-day time period state law allows. City police leaders are currently discussing reducing that retention period even further — down to just 10 days — in response to privacy concerns.

“Keeping the data for a period of time is important to us, because sometimes crimes aren’t reported at the exact moment a perpetrator might be driving by a camera. Maybe it’s a day two days, five days later,” said Faust.

How ALPR Tech Has Helped

Brooklyn Park police make no bones about it: ALPR technology does infringe on privacy on some level.

“As a police chief, as a human being, I don’t want it,” said Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley. “But unfortunately in some communities, it’s a benefit, and my primary function is to provide safety and security for this community.”

Police said the technology has helped reduce motor vehicle thefts significantly.

In 2023, when Brooklyn Park did not have ALPR technology, the city reported 431 motor vehicle thefts, one of the highest figures among suburbs in the state.

The next year, when ALPR was introduced, that figure was reduced to 310. 

In 2025, Brooklyn Park’s first full year of using ALPR, the number dropped to 207.

This year, so far, the city reports 90 motor vehicle thefts.

“That doesn’t happen by accident,” said Bruley. “This technology used right fits into that category.”

Police also said ALPR technology was critical in capturing the man convicted in the fatal shooting of Ramone Blue outside a clothing store in 2024.

Residents can track data from license plate readers on the city’s website.

The city currently has four ALPR cameras from Axon, but plans to add two more soon with the possibility of up to eight.

“The residents of Brooklyn Park are safer with ALPR technology,” said Faust. “I’m not saying they’re safer with Flock, I’m saying with ALPR technology.”

Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley speaks about ALPRs at the Sept. 28 council meeting.

Related: Plymouth Latest City To Discontinue Flock Safety Surveillance

Related: Crystal Police Chief Reflects on Flock Camera Removal, Community Feedback

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