Faribault PD captain says Minnesota laws keep privacy secure | APG State News
Public scrutiny of Flock Safety cameras has caused communities in Dayton, Appleton, and Oshkosh to attempt to rescind their contracts with the company. In Faribault, Capt. Brandon Gliem cites Minnesota’s extensive privacy protection laws as the reason why Flock cameras are working.
“The state of Minnesota has done an amazing job with (privacy laws),” Gliem said, “we also just underwent a full audit where there were no findings against us.
Minnesota only allows police departments to keep Flock-collected data for 60 days, but Faribault Police Department’s internal policy only keeps the data for 30. The data collected is also not shared with the federal government. Other precincts within the state do have access, but the closed loop is purposeful.
“We know the community has been concerned about (Immigration Customs and Enforcement) having access to the data collected, but we don’t do that,” the captain said.
Gliem says this is all to maintain public confidence in the department’s use of a tool he calls invaluable to the force.
“In small town policing like this, (Flock cameras) literally multiply our force,” Gliem said.
At the moment, there’s 10 Flock Cameras installed in the area. Five are located on highway exits into the city while the rest are scattered through the smaller roads leading in and out of downtown Faribault. Gliem says he does not believe there will be future plans to add more to the area.
“For a city of our size, 10 cameras seems to be enough,” he said.
Flock Safety’s cameras have detected about 158,000 unique vehicles over the last 30 days, according to the Faribault Police Department’s Flock Safety Transparency Portal. Only the license and car models are recorded though, no information is taken on the persons driving the vehicles.
Gliem says he understands the privacy concerns people may have.
“Whenever you have the government concerned you want to make sure there’s no overreach,” he said, “we want to make sure we’re working for the public.”
Faribault police have helped solve more than 50 cases since signing on to the Flock contract. The transparency portal lists missing persons reports, sexual assault, homicides and burglaries as some of the cases solved through the technology.
Marco Rivero Luna is a reporter for the Faribault Daily News. Reach him at 815-981-5389. © Copyright 2026 Adams MultiMedia of Southern Minnesota. All rights reserved.
