The Sheriff’s Office contracts with Atlanta-based Flock Group, Inc., for the surveillance technology, per the measure approved Tuesday. The office’s current contract includes 25 license plate reader cameras placed throughout the county, including at the Judicial Center complex and government center.
The Flock license plate reader cameras have been controversial in some nearby communities, a few of which have recently ended their contracts with the company. In the past year, for example, both Oak Parkand Evanstonhalted their contracts with Flock amid concern over information possibly being shared with federal immigration agencies.
At a Kane County Board Judicial and Public Safety Committee meeting in January, Undersheriff Amy Johnson said that the license plate reader cameras help the Sheriff’s Office “a tremendous amount.”
Asked by board member Jon Gripe at that committee meeting how many of the license plate readers the Sheriff’s Office would ideally want to have, Johnson said that they would ideally have 45-50 throughout the county, up from their current 25.
Gripe also asked if those numbers included the Forest Preserve District’s Flock cameras, and Johnson said that they are separate, but are all interconnected.
The contract renewal comes at a cost of $72,000 annually, and was included in the Sheriff’s Office’s 2026 fiscal year budget, per the measure. It was recommended for approval by the Judicial and Public Safety Committee in January, and received final approval from the full board on Feb. 10.
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