Ben Garbaz/Daily Mining Gazette From left, Brad Dakota, James Niemela, Lee DeLeon, Craig Kent and Bill Menge listen to citizens' concerns regarding the potential installation of Flock Safety License Plate Readers during Monday's Baraga County Board meeting. After a lengthy discussion between commissioners and citizens, the board ultimately decided to not install the cameras with a vote of 3-2. Niemela, Kent and Menge voted to not install cameras while Dakota and DeLeon voted in favor of camera installation.

L’Anse — After a summer of mulling over the installation of Flock Safety License Plate Reader cameras throughout Baraga County, the county board has decided to not install the cameras during Monday’s meeting. The vote on the matter was made with several citizens in attendance voicing concerns over what they perceived to be privacy and potential Fourth Amendment violations.

The commissioners did not make the decision lightly, with a lengthy discussions between commissioners and residents with each commissioner explaining their thoughts on the matter. Chairman Brad Dakota shared his interest in the cameras stemmed from wanting the flow of drugs into the county to slow down.

“I had a long career as a judge, and I know very well the problems that drugs can create, not only for individual people, but for their families and for the whole community as well,” Dakota said. “These problems come at a huge monetary cost. That was the reason I believe that the opioid settlement funds, if they could be used to help support the cost of Flock Safety, would actually help the drug problems in our county.”

In response to concerns of privacy violations regarding cameras, Dakota said license plates are public information which can be observed on public highways. Dakota then held out his cell phone. “These (cell phones) have more potential to violate your Fourth Amendment freedom than those license plate reading cameras,” he said.

Commissioner Lee DeLeon followed up on Dakota’s observations by pointing out stores, gas stations, banks and schools all have cameras along with smart televisions. “You turn it on and there goes your privacy,” DeLeon said. “So welcome to 2025, people. This is not 1950 anymore, and if it’s going to do good for the county, it’s going to do good for the county. We have to realize that technology has come a long way, and we need to take advantage of it if we want to protect our citizens.”

Vice-Chairman Craig Kent explained he has concerns regarding tracking license plates and used the Federal Motor Carrier as an example, but he also has concerns about possible situations where the cameras could be utilized such as child abduction. Kent also commented on the drug problem and said he sees their effects everyday. He then explained his greatest concern however is the money to operate the cameras through Flock Safety. While the first year expenses would be covered by opioid settlement funds, the fees moving forward could fluctuate and would be planned to be paid via grant money.

Commissioner James Niemela said his concerns are the same as they were when discussions on the cameras first began. Niemela said he sees the good the cameras can do, but is concerned with how the tools can be abused. He brought up the Patriot Act as an example of what he believes was something the government abused.

“You can’t abuse a system that’s not in place,” Niemela said. “We just want to look and watch out for bad guys, I understand that. In Nazi Germany it did not start by hauling them off into concentration camps. It started by identifying who was Jewish. You got it now you wear your yellow star. Now you’re gonna do this. You’ve got a yellow star, well you’re not allowed into a restaurant. You’re a Jewish owner, well we’re gonna break up your store. It started by identifying them, by looking out and by figuring out who was who, and what was there.”

The vote was 3-2 to not install Flock Safety License Plate Reader cameras. Commissioner Bill Menge, Kent and Niemela voted to not install the cameras while Dakota and DeLeon voted in favor of installing the cameras.

If the vote went the other direction, the cameras would be placed at certain areas of the county to reveal where suspect vehicles have been. After a vehicle is located, other locations which utilize Flock Safety can share their information with one another to track down the location of the target vehicle. Baraga County Sheriff Joe Brogan was hoping to use the cameras to assist in cracking down on the county’s drug issues, since law enforcement numbers are low and all that is relied on to tackle the problem is patrolling the county.

Moving forward, Brogan said law enforcement will continue to patrol the county to address drug issues.

“It’s unfortunate that Flock got shot down,” Brogan said after the meeting. “We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve always done. We’re spread thin on personnel, not just our agency– MSP, and the local agencies as well. So we can’t be everywhere at once or all the time. We’re just gonna have to work smart and continue to do the best job that we can with what we have to work with.”