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License-plate readers · Grand Traverse County

Grand Traverse County

Using license-plate readers · 1 agency documented

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Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
28
28 Flock cameras per 9&10 News (June 2026) and IPR (July 2026); 27 across Garfield, East Bay and Peninsula townships per WCMU/IPR (Feb. 2026).
Contract
Flock Safety: $2,850 per camera ($39,900 for 14) first year · from 2023 · approved by Garfield Township Board (unanimous) · Township-funded cameras leased from Flock and used by the sheriff's office. (The Ticker (Traverse Ticker), Feb. 17, 2023)
Contract
Flock Safety: · from 2023 · approved by Peninsula Township Board · 6 cameras. (The Ticker (Traverse Ticker), Feb. 17, 2023)
Contract
Flock Safety: up to $89,000 5 years · from 2023 · approved by East Bay Township Board, 4-1 (Trustee Glen Lile no) · 7 cameras. (Interlochen Public Radio, March 15, 2023)
  1. Feb. 2023 Garfield (14 cameras) and Peninsula (6) township boards voted to fund Flock cameras for sheriff's office use. (The Ticker (Traverse Ticker), Feb. 17, 2023)
  2. March 2023 East Bay Township board voted 4-1 for seven Flock cameras, with Trustee Glen Lile opposed. (Interlochen Public Radio, March 15, 2023)
  3. Feb. 2026 Undersheriff Randy Fewless said the county had 27 Flock cameras in three townships (Garfield, East Bay and Peninsula). WCMU, citing Flock's transparency page, reported more than 150,000 vehicles detected in 30 days. Interlochen Public Radio put the county total at 28 by July 2026. (WCMU / Interlochen Public Radio, Feb. 16, 2026; Northern Express, Aug. 8, 2026; Interlochen Public Radio, July 2, 2026)
  4. June 2026 Undersheriff Randy Fewless said the office keeps data 30 days and shares access with other agencies, including hundreds nationwide and the FBI; the office ran 230 searches in the prior month. (9&10 News, June 11, 2026)
  5. July 2026 Per its policy manual, the office audits Flock searches twice a year; IPR reported its data is shared to Flock's national network accessible to more than 1,400 agencies. (Interlochen Public Radio, July 24, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Township vote dates given only as month in the articles.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. Jan. 30, 2026 Michigan has no state statute governing automated license plate readers, leaving rules on use and data sharing to local governments, Bridge Michigan reported; it counted at least 125 county or municipal agencies with Flock Safety contracts. (Bridge Michigan, Jan. 30, 2026)
  2. Jan. 29, 2026 Reps. Douglas Wozniak (R-Shelby Township) and Jimmie Wilson Jr. (D-Ypsilanti) introduced tie-barred House Bills 5492 and 5493, which would create a new act setting guidelines for plate reader systems. Both were referred to the House Judiciary Committee the same day; the Legislature's site lists no later committee or floor action. (Michigan Legislature, Jan. 29, 2026; Michigan Legislature, Jan. 29, 2026; Bridge Michigan, March 5, 2026)
  3. March 5, 2026 As described by Bridge Michigan, the House package would cap retention of plate reader data at 14 days, limit uses to listed purposes such as missing persons, stolen vehicles, warrants and criminal investigations, require public reports on use, and give drivers a path to legal recourse for misuse. (Bridge Michigan, March 5, 2026)
  4. April 22, 2026 The House Fiscal Agency issued a summary of HB 5492 and HB 5493 as introduced. (Michigan Legislature, Jan. 29, 2026; Michigan Legislature, Jan. 29, 2026)
  5. July 29, 2026 Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) introduced Senate Bill 1131, which is similar to the House bills but not a formal companion. It went to the Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety the same day, and no later action is listed. His office said it would require a warrant to search plate-reader data except during active criminal, missing-person or stolen-vehicle investigations, and would have unused data erased after 14 days. (Michigan Legislature, July 29, 2026; Office of State Sen. Jim Runestad, July 29, 2026; WWMT, July 30, 2026)
  6. July 27, 2026 Fifteen Democratic state lawmakers asked the Michigan Department of Transportation to end a maintenance memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Border Patrol Detroit Sector and Homeland Security Investigations covering plate readers, and to review surveillance deployments on state transportation property. MDOT said it was reviewing the letter and that law enforcement plate readers have been permitted along its trunklines for several years. (Michigan Advance, July 27, 2026)
  7. July 2026 MDOT said agencies placing a plate reader on an MDOT trunkline must agree to follow the Michigan State Police manual for license plate reader systems and commit that the data will not be used, sold or transferred for non-law-enforcement purposes. (Michigan Advance, July 27, 2026)
  8. Aug. 14, 2026 Flock Safety announced company-wide policy changes, reported in Michigan: default retention cut from 30 to 7 days (existing customers may keep their current period), an option for cities to choose which offenses allow outside agencies to search their data, and audit tools and case codes required for searches by year-end. WILX reported more than 180 Michigan law enforcement agencies use Flock cameras. (WILX, Aug. 14, 2026)
  9. Aug. 4, 2026 Michigan Public reported that more than 180 Michigan law enforcement agencies use the cameras. Ron Wiles of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police said some oversight may be warranted but cautioned against rules that would make the tool ineffective; an ACLU of Michigan policy strategist warned the data could be used to track sensitive personal information. (Michigan Public, Aug. 4, 2026)

State agencies

Michigan State Police

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
MSP did not disclose how many freeway readers it installed in its 2023 metro Detroit pilot (WXYZ, Feb. 2023). No current count found.
  1. Jan. 30, 2023 MSP began installing plate readers along the Southfield Freeway and I-96 in metro Detroit as a pilot it said would later expand statewide; it said images would be kept 30 days and used for serious and violent crimes, not traffic enforcement. (WXYZ, Feb. 2, 2023; FOX 2 Detroit, Feb. 1, 2023)
  2. March 2023 MSP said readers were in use on freeways in several parts of the state and that it wanted to expand them. (WILX, March 6, 2023)
  3. June 20, 2023 MSP Procedure Manual 07-13, 'License Plate Reader Systems,' took effect. Under it MSP stores no historical plate data itself (the provider it subscribes to holds the data), MSP's agreements ask providers to keep data from MSP hardware no more than 30 days, every query must cite an incident number, and outside agencies can get data by written request to MSP supervisors with confirmation of an ongoing criminal investigation. (Michigan State Police (PowerDMS public), June 20, 2023)
  4. July 2026 MDOT said its permits for plate readers on state trunklines require agencies to comply with the MSP license plate reader manual. (Michigan Advance, July 27, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Vendor for MSP's own readers not named in any source opened; the manual refers only to the provider MSP subscribes to.
  • The newest source on MSP's own readers is from 2023, so current use is marked unconfirmed.
  • No Michigan Attorney General opinion or action on plate readers was found.

From agency records.