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License-plate readers · Wayne County

Wayne County

Using license-plate readers · 6 agencies documented

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Detroit Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions, Genetec
Cameras
566
At least 566 readers, including 262 Flock cameras, per an April 2025 report cited by BridgeDetroit (Jan. 2026).
Contract
Motorola Solutions: $5 million total · from Sept. 2023 · approved by Detroit City Council, 7-2 · 100 readers at 25 intersections, paid with federal pandemic relief funds. (FOX 2 Detroit, Sept. 27, 2023; BridgeDetroit, Sept. 25, 2023)
Contract
Flock Safety: $6.25 million total · from 2024 · to June 2029 · approved by Detroit City Council (2024) · Freeway plate readers, per BridgeDetroit; council vote date and tally not found. (BridgeDetroit, Jan. 21, 2026)
  1. May 11, 2023 The Board of Police Commissioners held a public hearing on a proposed $5 million Motorola Solutions reader contract and took no action. DPD then had 83 fixed intersection cameras, 110 mobile cameras on 55 vehicles, three trailers and 33 other cameras, from Flock and Genetec, and said it had used readers since 2018. (BridgeDetroit, May 12, 2023)
  2. Sept. 2023 City Council approved the Motorola contract for 100 readers at 25 intersections, 7-2; Council Members Gabriela Santiago-Romero and Latisha Johnson voted no. Earlier, the Public Health and Safety Committee advanced it with Scott Benson and Mary Waters in favor and Santiago-Romero opposed. (FOX 2 Detroit, Sept. 27, 2023; BridgeDetroit, Sept. 25, 2023)
  3. Nov. 2023 City Council approved a $30 million state grant to build a freeway video system of 400 cameras at 200 locations. (FOX 2 Detroit, Nov. 15, 2023)
  4. 2024 City Council approved a $6.25 million Flock contract for freeway plate readers running through June 2029. (BridgeDetroit, Jan. 21, 2026)
  5. Jan. 2026 Council Member Denzel McCampbell asked for a report on which city contractors sell or share data with third-party data brokers, and Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero asked how DPD handles ICE detainers. The week before, Chief Todd Bettison had told the Board of Police Commissioners that DPD does not share data with ICE. (BridgeDetroit, Jan. 21, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • DPD policy allows plate data to go to outside agencies in an active investigation but bars sharing to assess immigration status or enforce immigration law; a 2023 report listed 31 data-sharing agreements (BridgeDetroit).
  • Retention: 2023 reports cite DPD keeping data up to a year with unused hits deleted within 90 days (May 2023) and a 90-day retention policy (Sept. 2023).
  • Detroit's Legistar API has no records after 2017; council now uses another agenda system, not searched this round.
  • The September 2023 council vote is given as 'Tuesday' in a Sept. 27 FOX 2 story (most likely Sept. 26); the January 2026 council meeting as 'Tuesday' in a Jan. 21 BridgeDetroit story (most likely Jan. 20). The November 2023 grant vote date was not given. The 2024 Flock contract is dated only to the year.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Westland Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
29
29 Flock cameras, per Michigan Public (Aug. 2026).
Contract
Flock Safety: · from July 2024 · to July 2026 · Two-year contract expiring end of July 2026 (WXYZ); start inferred from term. (WXYZ, July 9, 2026)
  1. July 2026 Police Chief Kyle Dawley decided not to send the expiring two-year Flock contract to City Council for renewal, saying council was divided; Councilwoman Melissa Sampey announced the decision. Cameras are to be removed after expiration. (WXYZ, July 9, 2026; FOX 2 Detroit, July 9, 2026; Michigan Public, Aug. 19, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Decision reported July 9, 2026 without exact date (YYYY-MM). Michigan Public said cameras would be removed gradually; full removal not confirmed.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Dearborn Police Department

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions
Cameras
Count not documented
No count found.
  1. June 2022 Responding to a public records request, the city released purchase orders for Vigilant and Flock Safety plate reader products, plus one from DA Central. (MuckRock (City of Dearborn FOIA response), June 13, 2022)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Most recent documented purchase is from 2022; current contract not confirmed. Vigilant is a Motorola Solutions brand. Purchase-order contents not visible on MuckRock, only file names.

From agency records.

Taylor Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
50
Fifty cameras costing about $150,000, per CBS Detroit (May 2024).
  1. March 2026 Taylor officials considered renewing the city's existing Flock contract, per Bridge Michigan; police credited the cameras with recent arrests. (Bridge Michigan, March 5, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Bridge Michigan (March 5, 2026) said the renewal was considered that week; the outcome was not found.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Inkster Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
6
Six Flock plate readers now, with 20 planned under 'Safe City Inkster' (FOX 2, Oct. 2026).
Contract
Flock Safety: · from Oct. 2026 · Ten-year partnership including 20 plate readers, five security cameras, 48 gunshot detectors and a drone; amount and approval not reported. (FOX 2 Detroit, Oct. 13, 2026)
  1. Oct. 2026 Inkster announced an expanded 10-year Flock partnership growing its plate readers from six to 20 and adding gunshot detection and a drone, plus a public transparency portal. (FOX 2 Detroit, Oct. 13, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Announcement made on a Tuesday per FOX 2's Oct. 13, 2026 story; exact date not given (YYYY-MM).

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Sumpter Township Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
No count found.
  1. April 2026 The township began a free Flock camera trial. (Michigan Public, Aug. 19, 2026)
  2. Aug. 2026 Police announced they would discontinue the Flock agreement after public feedback. (Michigan Public, Aug. 19, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Announcement date given only as 'Monday' in an Aug. 19, 2026 article (YYYY-MM). Removal not confirmed.

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.