Rice Lake, Wisconsin police investigate fire that destroyed a Flock Safety camera

Event: August 29, 2026 · First reported: September 10, 2026 · 2 sources

Late on the evening of Aug. 29, Rice Lake Police responded to a report of a vehicle fire on Orchard Beach Lane and instead found one of the city's 13 Flock Safety license plate reader cameras burning. Capt. Matt Bach said the department believes the fire was arson, that the camera is a total loss, and that no suspect has been identified. A witness reported seeing someone running from the camera toward a nearby boat landing. The incident follows other reported camera thefts and fires in the region amid growing local opposition to the ALPR system.

Why this matters

The case sits at the intersection of criminal damage to surveillance equipment and an unresolved local debate over ALPR oversight, including how such contracts are approved and whether elected officials are consulted.

Key facts

Rice Lake Police responded the night of Aug. 29 and found a Flock camera on fire; police say they believe it was arson and no suspect has been developed.
Rice Lake first leased eight Flock cameras in 2022 with City Council approval and now has 13.
In late July, two Flock cameras were reported stolen from a Bayfield County roundabout near Ashland, where a pole was cut down and a fire burned roughly 60 to 100 feet around it.
Chetek Police Chief Ron Ambrozaitis contracted with Flock without notifying elected officials, drawing resident complaints at a City Council meeting.
On Sept. 4, Altoona Police Chief Kelly Bakken ended the city's Flock agreement; its 11 cameras were removed, though the city plans to use a different vendor's similar technology.

Sources

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

Rice Lake police investigating arson of Flock camera (apg-wi.com, September 10, 2026)
Rice Lake police investigating arson of license plate reader camera (Apg Of Wisconsin, September 9, 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 13, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.