Crystal, Minnesota Police to Remove All Six Flock Cameras and End Vendor Relationship

First reported: September 10, 2026 · 1 source

Crystal Police Chief Brian Hubbard announced the department will return all six of its Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras to the vendor and end its relationship with the company, following resident complaints about data collection and potential misuse. The department also said it plans to shut off data sharing with other agencies during the current retention period. The Crystal City Council had approved the Flock contract in June 2025, with five of the six cameras funded through a Minnesota auto theft grant. Hubbard said the system had helped solve crimes, recover property, and make arrests even as he moved to end its use.

Why this matters

Crystal joins a growing list of Minnesota communities ending Flock contracts, showing that local councils and police chiefs have become the primary decision-makers on ALPR policy after state legislation stalled.

Key facts

All six cameras are being returned to the vendor; data sharing with other agencies is to be turned off during the current retention period.
Brooklyn Park, Columbia Heights, Duluth, and West St. Paul pulled back in August, per KARE 11; Sherburne County, St. Paul, St. Louis County, and Winona also said they would end contracts or not replace stolen cameras, per CBS News Minnesota.
In Winona, all eight cameras were cut down from highway poles and stolen in August; police decided not to reinstall them, according to WDIO.
Minnesota Statute § 13.824 classifies ALPR data not tied to an active investigation as nonpublic and requires destruction within 60 days, with BCA notification within 10 days of placing stationary readers.
A House bill from Rep. Brad Tabke requiring warrants for out-of-state data access deadlocked 7-7 on a party-line committee vote in March 2026, per BillTrack50.
The ACLU of Minnesota says its 2026 investigation found out-of-state and federal agencies running up to 300,000 monthly searches against Minnesota ALPR databases.

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

Crystal Police Yank All Six Flock Cameras as Privacy Backlash Sweeps Minnesota (Hoodline, September 10, 2026)

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About this record

BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.

Updated September 11, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.