Will County Committee Hits Brakes on License Plate Reader Agreements Awaiting Privacy Policy Review

Will County Board Public Works & Transportation Committee Meeting | May 5, 2026

Article Summary
The Will County Public Works and Transportation Committee delayed votes on five intergovernmental agreements for Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras, citing the need to review vendor privacy policies. The decision followed a robust debate featuring local police chiefs who defended the technology as a vital crime-fighting tool and an ACLU representative who warned of unchecked surveillance infrastructure.

Flock ALPR Camera Delay Key Points:

• The committee postponed action on Resolutions 26-4705, 26-4702, 26-4703, 26-4707, and 26-4755, which would authorize ALPR placements on county highways for Mokena, Crete, Manhattan, Wilmington, and Beecher.

• Law enforcement officials testified that the cameras are essential for tracking transient criminal groups, recovering stolen vehicles, and locating endangered individuals like Alzheimer’s patients.

• The ACLU of Illinois raised concerns over the lack of binding state laws or contractual provisions holding private vendors accountable for data misuse.

• Committee members requested to review the specific accountability policies governing the Flock Safety camera systems before voting on the agreements next month.

The Will County Public Works and Transportation Committee on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, voted to postpone the approval of five intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) that would allow local municipalities to place automated license plate reading cameras on county highways, opting to hold the items until members can thoroughly review the associated privacy policies.

The delayed agreements—Resolutions 26-4705, 26-4702, 26-4703, 26-4707, and 26-4755—pertain to the placement of Flock Safety cameras by the Village of Mokena, Village of Crete, Village of Manhattan, City of Wilmington, and Village of Beecher. While the municipalities pay for the cameras, they require county IGAs to install them on county-owned rights-of-way.

The postponement followed a lengthy and passionate presentation by local law enforcement officials, who sought to dispel misconceptions about the technology and underscore its necessity.

Mokena Police Chief Benton presented a detailed overview of the Flock system, explaining that it captures still images of vehicles and their “fingerprints”—such as bumper stickers, dents, and license plates—but does not utilize facial recognition, track vehicle speed, or provide immediate driver registration data. Officers must cross-reference the plate with state databases to find owner information.

“This is my 36th year in law enforcement now, and I have to say there have been, in my opinion, three significant technologies that have helped us investigate crimes and solve crimes,” Chief Benton told the committee. “The first being fingerprint data… the next being DNA evidence… and now license plate reader cameras. They have been instrumental in having us track criminals, groups of criminals that are very transient.”

Benton provided several examples of the system’s success, including the tracking of a crew that stole a trailer of expensive landscaping equipment from a Mokena business, which was traced to the northern suburbs using a trailing vehicle’s plate. He also noted the system’s strict 30-day data retention limit and its built-in software blocks preventing Illinois officers from using the system for immigration enforcement or investigating individuals seeking reproductive healthcare.

Undersheriff Jungles of the Will County Sheriff’s Office echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the technology’s role in the immediate aftermath of violent crimes.

“I can speak for the Romeo Nance shooting where he murdered seven people in this county a couple of years ago. We knew right away, for the most part, that he had fled the area because he was not hitting on Flock cameras,” Jungles said. “Getting rid of these cameras will only hurt public safety. Period.”

Despite the strong endorsements from law enforcement, committee members and civil rights advocates expressed reservations about the lack of formalized, binding oversight.

Stephen Ragan, a Policy and Advocacy Strategist for Privacy, Technology, and Surveillance with the ACLU of Illinois, acknowledged the utility of the cameras but warned of the creeping expansion of a “private-public infrastructure of surveillance.”

“I acknowledge internal policies, but then, you know, again, we are leaving it to vendors to self-police themselves without meaningful accountability,” Ragan said, referencing a data breach reported by the Secretary of State’s office the previous summer. “Once surveillance infrastructure goes up, it doesn’t usually come down.”

Board Member Kelly Hickey (D-Naperville) clarified that her intent was not to strip police of a valuable tool, but to ensure the county acts responsibly in granting permission for surveillance on its infrastructure.

“I appreciate all of the safeguards and policies that you demonstrated for us the other day. I couldn’t help but notice most of them are internal policies or Flock policies. There really isn’t anything memorialized in our agreements with anyone about misuse of the system,” Hickey stated. “We need to make sure that we have some sort of kill switch in these agreements, that if something changes… we need to have something.”

Board Member Steve Balich (R-Homer Glen) also raised concerns regarding privacy and the potential financial burden on taxpayers, though Shorewood Police Chief Arnold, joining the meeting remotely, clarified that the county does not fund the municipal cameras.

Ultimately, Board Member Dave Oxley (R-Lockport) made a motion to postpone the IGAs until the June meeting so the committee could review the specific policies governing the cameras’ use.

“We have not had a chance to review this policy,” Oxley said. “So, what I’m going to suggest is that we continue this now, but give us a policy to read and negotiate, make sure we’re all on the same page.”

The motion to postpone the five resolutions passed unanimously.