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License-plate readers · Kent County

Kent County

Using license-plate readers · 4 agencies documented

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Kent County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
62
62 Flock cameras countywide per the county's Flock Transparency page and WGVU (Sept. 2026); grew from a 2022 pilot.
Contract
Flock Safety: · from May 2022 · FOX 17 (June 2022) reported 25 cameras supplied free for one year under a grant tied to a Major County Sheriffs' Association partnership with Flock; the county's transparency page describes the pilot as 20 cameras. No current contract amount found. (FOX 17 West Michigan, June 2, 2022; Kent County, Michigan, date not shown)
  1. May 2022 Sheriff's office began a no-cost Flock pilot; FOX 17 put the start in early May 2022 with 25 cameras, while the county's own page calls it a 20-camera pilot. (FOX 17 West Michigan, June 2, 2022; Kent County, Michigan, date not shown)
  2. Sept. 2026 Sheriff's office opened a public Flock transparency portal listing its policies; the county says images are kept 30 days unless preserved for an investigation and every search needs a documented reason. (WGVU News, Sept. 9, 2026; Kent County, Michigan, date not shown)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Portal announcement month taken from WGVU's Sept. 9, 2026 story; exact launch day not stated.
  • Transparency portal (transparency.flocksafety.com/kent-county-mi-so) could not be opened (Cloudflare challenge), so sharing lists and search counts were not verified.

From agency records.

Grand Rapids Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety, Vendor not named in source
Cameras
31
31 fixed Flock cameras purchased in 2024, per Spectrum News (Aug. 26, 2026); WOOD TV8 also reports 31 ALPR units. Separate in-car plate readers (vendor not named) have been used for about 14 years.
Contract
Flock Safety: · from 2024 · to June 9, 2027 · Contract expiry of June 9, 2027 per Administrative Order 2026-01. The Flock purchase was treated as a replacement of older ALPRs and so was exempt from the city's 2015 surveillance policy review (WOOD TV8). Amount not found. (City of Grand Rapids, Sept. 3, 2026; Spectrum News, Aug. 26, 2026; WOOD TV8, Aug. 28, 2026)
  1. Aug. 2026 GRPD and Flock Safety briefed the City Commission's Public Safety Committee; GRPD said it shares Flock data with agencies across Michigan and the U.S., keeps data 30 days, and audits searches monthly. More than a dozen residents spoke against the cameras. (Spectrum News, Aug. 26, 2026; Michigan Public, Aug. 24, 2026; FOX 17 West Michigan, Aug. 28, 2026; WGVU News, Aug. 28, 2026)
  2. Aug. 28, 2026 City Manager Mark Washington announced the ALPR system would be brought under the city's Surveillance Technology Policy, so future purchases, renewals or expansions need Public Safety Committee review and City Commission approval, with annual reporting starting in 2027. (WGVU News, Aug. 28, 2026; FOX 17 West Michigan, Aug. 28, 2026; WOOD TV8, Aug. 28, 2026)
  3. Sept. 2026 GRPD launched a public Flock transparency portal; at the following City Commission meeting a resident asked the city not to renew the contract. (WGVU News, Sept. 9, 2026)
  4. Sept. 3, 2026 Washington issued Administrative Order 2026-01 (Flock provisions effective Sept. 7, 2026), capping retention at 30 days unless evidence, applying Policy 15-03 oversight and audit rules, and requiring a 2026 usage report before the contract expires. (City of Grand Rapids, Sept. 3, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Portal launch dated to month from WGVU's Sept. 9, 2026 article.
  • GRPD told the Public Safety Committee it had no plans to add cameras (Spectrum).
  • The Public Safety Committee briefing is dated by weekday in the sources (probably Aug. 25, 2026).

From agency records.

Wyoming Department of Public Safety (Police)

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
12
12 fixed Flock readers at high-crime intersections as of July 2022 (FOX 17).
Contract
Flock Safety: $30,000 total · from Feb. 2022 · approved by City of Wyoming (American Rescue Plan funds) · FOX 17 says $30,000 of ARPA funds were approved in December 2021; installation late Feb./early March 2022. (FOX 17 West Michigan, July 20, 2022; WGVU News (Associated Press), Dec. 28, 2021)
  1. Dec. 2021 City moved to spend $30,000 in American Rescue Plan funds on 12 plate-recognition cameras at six intersections. (FOX 17 West Michigan, July 20, 2022; WGVU News (Associated Press), Dec. 28, 2021)
  2. July 2022 Police reported 19 arrests and 13 recovered stolen vehicles tied to the cameras in their first months. (FOX 17 West Michigan, July 20, 2022)
Conflicts and open questions
  • No source after 2022 found confirming current use; approval meeting date not found.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Kentwood Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety, Axon
Cameras
10
10 fixed plate cameras announced in Sept. 2023 (WGVU); MLive/GovTech identifies them as Flock. Separate Axon in-car readers planned for up to 35 patrol vehicles by summer 2025.
Contract
Axon: $5.9 million total (10 years) · from Dec. 2024 · approved by Kentwood City Commission, 2024-12-03 · Bundle including body cameras, Tasers and in-car plate readers; partly funded by public safety millage. (WOOD TV8, Dec. 13, 2024; GovTech (syndicating MLive), Jan. 10, 2025)
Contract
Flock Safety: · from 2023 · 10 fixed cameras; 30-day retention for data not tied to a crime. (WGVU News, Sept. 1, 2023; GovTech (syndicating MLive), Jan. 10, 2025)
  1. Sept. 2023 Police said they would soon begin using 10 fixed plate-reading cameras at selected locations. (WGVU News, Sept. 1, 2023)
  2. Dec. 3, 2024 City Commission approved a 10-year, $5.9 million Axon contract that includes automatic plate readers for patrol vehicles. (WOOD TV8, Dec. 13, 2024; GovTech (syndicating MLive), Jan. 10, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • MLive original of the GovTech piece not located; GovTech syndication cited for the Flock vendor and in-car count.

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.