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License-plate readers · Jackson County

Jackson County

Using license-plate readers · 4 agencies documented

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Jackson Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
10
10 Flock cameras in the city per WKAR (Sept. 2026) and MLive (Feb. 2025).
Contract
Flock Safety: $25,404 grant allocation · from 2025 · approved by Jackson City Council · JPD share of a $40,174 Byrne JAG grant, to cover plate-reader contract and operating costs. (MLive / Police1, Feb. 7, 2025)
Contract
Flock Safety: $42,271 grant (shared with county sheriff) · from 2026 · approved by Jackson City Council (5-2) · JAG award to JPD and the Jackson County Sheriff; most funds to keep operating 10 city cameras. (WKAR Public Media, Sept. 9, 2026)
  1. 2022 City began using Flock plate-reader cameras. (WKAR Public Media, Sept. 9, 2026; MLive / Police1, Feb. 7, 2025)
  2. Jan. 2025 City Council approved a $40,174 Byrne JAG grant split between JPD ($25,404) and the sheriff ($14,770), partly to continue plate-reader contracts. (MLive / Police1, Feb. 7, 2025)
  3. Sept. 2026 City Council voted 5-2 on an MOU with the county and a budget amendment using a $42,271 JAG award to continue Flock camera operations. (WKAR Public Media, Sept. 9, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • MLive (via Police1) gives the 2025 vote date as 'Tuesday, Jan. 29'; Jan. 29, 2025 was a Wednesday, so only the month is used.
  • Chief Chris Simpson told WILX (Aug. 2026) the cameras are not used for mass surveillance; data retention had followed a 30-day standard.
  • Individual council votes not reported.
  • The September 2026 vote is given as 'Tuesday night' in a Sept. 9 WKAR story (probably Sept. 8).

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Jackson County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No sheriff-specific count found. MLive (Feb. 2025) counted 39 Flock cameras across Jackson County agencies; WILX (Feb. 2024) said about 50.
Contract
Flock Safety: $14,770 grant allocation · from 2025 · approved by Jackson City Council (grant pass-through) · Sheriff's share of a $40,174 JAG grant, used to continue its Flock contract and buy other equipment. (MLive / Police1, Feb. 7, 2025)
  1. Feb. 2024 Jackson County commissioners voted against revoking permits for Flock cameras in the county right-of-way, allowing police to keep them. (WILX, Feb. 21, 2024)
  2. Jan. 2025 Received $14,770 of a JAG grant to continue its Flock contract. (MLive / Police1, Feb. 7, 2025)
  3. Sept. 2026 The sheriff's office and Jackson police shared a $42,271 Justice Department grant (JAG); the Jackson City Council approved the joint agreement 5-2. (WKAR Public Media, Sept. 9, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Sheriff Gary Schuette told WILX in August 2026 the readers alert deputies to stolen vehicles.
  • February 2024 county commission meeting date not stated in the WILX story (published Feb. 21, 2024); month only.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Blackman Township Public Safety

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
10
10 Flock cameras per MLive (Feb. 2025).
  1. Feb. 2025 MLive listed the department with 10 Flock cameras. (MLive / Police1, Feb. 7, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Count only, from a February 2025 MLive report (read via Police1); no newer record found.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Napoleon Township Police Department

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
10
10 Flock cameras per MLive (Feb. 2025).
  1. Feb. 2025 MLive listed the department with 10 Flock cameras. (MLive / Police1, Feb. 7, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Count only, from a February 2025 MLive report (read via Police1); no newer record found.

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.