Lincoln Park has gone dark on license plate surveillance. Every one of the city's 24 Flock Safety cameras has been shrouded after the City Council voted unanimously to disable them while officials figure out what comes next, with no timeline set for when — or if — they'll switch back on.
The council approved the move Monday night, citing both privacy concerns and a string of camera vandalism, according to ClickOnDetroit. The cameras will stay covered while city leaders evaluate the program's future, and officials have not set an end date for the pause, the station reported. Flock Safety's cameras use automated license plate reader technology to capture vehicle information as cars pass.
The city has run the 24-camera network since 2022, but eight of those units were vandalized and knocked out of commission in the months leading up to the vote, according to The News Herald. The paper reported that the council's September 28 vote was unanimous and came with constitutional concerns attached to the decision to disable the system entirely rather than simply repair the damaged units.
Two City Panels Will Decide What's Next
Lincoln Park's Public Safety Commission and Community Improvement Commission are now tasked with reviewing how the city uses Flock cameras, a process expected to stretch over the next several months, per the same News Herald account. The city pays $60,000 annually for the service and has funneled $203,455 in federal Community Development Block Grant money into the program since 2022, the outlet reported.
That spending comes with a catch: Lincoln Park signed a five-year contract with Flock that doesn't expire until December 2028. City officials say they'll examine whether there's a way out of that agreement if the program is permanently discontinued, according to the report.
Part of a Wider Metro Detroit Retreat
Lincoln Park isn't the only Metro Detroit community pulling back. South Lyon's City Council voted 5-2 not to renew its Flock Safety contract and ordered police to stop using the cameras immediately, ClickOnDetroit reported. Ferndale, Westland and Independence Township have also ended their relationships with the company, the station noted — Independence Township's Board of Trustees voted in a September 8 meeting to terminate its contract and settle its remaining balance through the month, according to MLive.
Eastpointe's City Council voted 4-1 to cancel its own Flock contract, ending a 19-camera deployment across the five-square-mile city, Fox 2 Detroit reported. The Lansing City Council went further, adopting a resolution directing Mayor Andy Schor and the police department to terminate all existing Flock contracts outright, according to WILX. Not every city is backing away, though — Warren's City Council narrowly voted 4-3 to renew its $132,000 Flock contract, according to Government Technology.
Privacy Debate Reaches the State Capitol
The pushback is playing out against a broader reckoning over how much vehicle data these camera networks should be allowed to collect and keep. Communities across Metro Detroit are weighing how to use automated license plate readers and what policies should govern retention of that data, ClickOnDetroit reported in its coverage of the South Lyon decision. Privacy advocates and residents have increasingly raised concerns about surveillance, artificial intelligence and data-sharing tied to Flock's network, according to Bridge Michigan.
Just how widespread Flock's footprint is in Michigan depends on who's counting. Bridge Michigan reported that at least 125 Michigan local government agencies have contracted with Flock Safety, while Government Technology put the number of law enforcement agencies using Flock readers above 180, and WTVB reported more than 100 agencies currently deploy the cameras. State lawmakers have proposed legislation establishing boundaries on how the cameras can be used, though that measure has not been enacted.
