GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — License plate cameras across West Michigan are sparking controversy over how the technology tracks residents and who has access to that information.
Recent claims suggest these cameras are being used to identify undocumented immigrants, and the data may be accessible beyond local law enforcement agencies.
Dozens of these surveillance cameras are installed throughout the area, using technology that can identify and track vehicle license plates.
While the technology is promoted as a tool to catch known criminals and locate missing persons, concerns have emerged that outside agencies might be accessing this information to identify people facing deportation.
The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety and Grand Rapids Police Department have responded to these claims.
Kalamazoo, GRPD and several other local law enforcement agencies use a program called "Flock Safety," a company that reportedly operates in 5,000 communities nationwide.
Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officials say they have implemented changes after learning about these claims.
KDPS says they were recently made aware about these allegations.
The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety was recently made aware of nationwide License Plate Recognition (LPR) camera searches being conducted by outside law enforcement agencies focused on immigration-related violations. Once we learned that our city was being listed in these searches, we made the decision to suspend all external law enforcement access to our LPR cameras, except for local public safety partners within Kalamazoo County.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom also released a statement about the claims.
I want to assure our community that GRPD does not utilize license plate readers (LPRs) to conduct immigration-related investigations. A GRPD officer has been falsely identified on social media as conducting searches related to immigration enforcement actions. We are not the source of this document, and are unable to verify its origin, but can confirm no GRPD officers are using license plate readers to engage in immigration-related activity.
This would be in direct conflict with our policy which states in part: The GRPD is neither responsible for, nor has the authority to, enforce federal civil immigration laws used to detain or remove undocumented immigrants from the United States. This means that the GRPD does not serve as a civil immigration enforcement agency for the federal government. The department does not take on the responsibility of performing immigration functions unrelated to investigating and enforcing criminal violations.
I did some digging to see how these cameras actually work.
In one of Flock Safety's videos, they explain detectives in Louisiana were able to track a suspect across state lines thanks to their license plate cameras.
A Flock Safety spokesperson says access to the nationwide lookup feature is optional.
"All sharing relationships are opt-in, whether that's one-on-one, one-to-one, sharing relationships with an agency or with multiple agencies," a Flock Safety spokesperson said.
She adds law enforcement agencies are allowed to opt out of it, but they would then no longer have that nationwide reach.
The Flock Safety spokesperson says they don't have a contract with the federal Department of Homeland Security.
It's unclear how or if GRPD’s data is shared with other law enforcement agencies.
WEST MICHIGAN JURISDICTIONS THAT HAVE FLOCK SAFETY, according to the company:
- Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety
- Grand Rapids Police Department
- Wyoming Public Safety
- Portage Public Safety
- Kent County Sheriff's Office
- Portage Police Department
- Muskegon Township
- Albion Department of Public Safety
- Battle Creek Police Department
- Calhoun County Sheriff's Office
- East Grand Rapids Police Department
- Grand Haven Department of Public Safety
- Grandville Police Department
- Grand Valley State University
- Gun Lake Tribal Police Department
- Holland Police Department
- Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office
- Kalamazoo Township Police Department
- Kentwood Police Department
- Lowell Police Department
- Michigan State Police
- Michigan Department of Corrections
- Michigan Department of Natural Resources
- Muskegon County Sheriff's Office
- Muskegon Heights Police Department
- Muskegon Police Department
- Norton Shores Police Department
- Ottawa County Sheriff's Office
- Plainfield Township
- Rockford Department of Public Safety
- Walker Police Department
- Western Michigan University Police Department
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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