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License-plate readers · Kalamazoo County

Kalamazoo County

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
39
39 ALPR cameras per WMUK (Aug. 2026, citing MLive); WWMT reported 35 Flock cameras installed in June 2021.
Contract
Flock Safety: about $95,000 year · from June 2021 · approved by City staff (below $100,000 commission threshold) · Contract was under the $100,000 limit so it never went to the City Commission (Watershed Voice, WMUK). (WWMT News Channel 3, April 21, 2026; WMUK, Aug. 18, 2026; Watershed Voice, Sept. 9, 2026)
  1. April 2026 At the City Commission, residents spoke for and against the cameras, and a petition urged the city to end its Flock contracts. Chief Dave Boysen had told an earlier, February meeting that data goes only to approved Southwest Michigan police partners and not to federal agencies. (WWMT News Channel 3, April 21, 2026)
  2. Aug. 2026 City Commission unanimously moved to require commission approval of Flock/ALPR contracts and asked the city attorney to draft the policy change. (WMUK, Aug. 18, 2026; Watershed Voice, Sept. 9, 2026)
  3. Sept. 8, 2026 Commission voted 6-1 to postpone the ALPR contract-approval amendment to Sept. 21 to consider broader surveillance-technology language. Yes: Jae Slaby, Stephanie Hoffman, Jeanne Hess, Chris Praedel, Alonzo Wilson, Mayor David Anderson. No: Vice Mayor Drew Duncan. (City of Kalamazoo, Sept. 8, 2026; Watershed Voice, Sept. 9, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Outcome of the Sept. 21, 2026 meeting not found.
  • Start year differs: WWMT says June 2021 (first in Michigan); Watershed Voice (Nov. 2025) says Flock since 2019.
  • The 39-camera count is WMUK's, citing MLive.
  • The April and August commission meetings are dated by weekday in the sources (probably April 20 and Aug. 17, 2026).

From agency records.

Portage Police Department

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
20
20 readers in use in November 2023, with 10 more planned for 2024 (FOX 17).
Contract
Flock Safety: $82,500 year · from 2023 · approved by Portage City Council · One-year contract including the new cameras; a five-year option would have totaled $396,500. Approval date not given. (FOX 17 West Michigan, Nov. 16, 2023)
  1. Nov. 2023 City Council approved a one-year, $82,500 Flock contract adding 10 readers to the existing 20. (FOX 17 West Michigan, Nov. 16, 2023)
Conflicts and open questions
  • No Portage record newer than 2023 found; the department appears as a data-sharing partner of Kalamazoo Public Safety in April 2026 reporting, which does not show its own cameras.
  • Approval dated to the month of the FOX 17 article.

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.