Ferndale ends contract with Flock Safety after hearing concerns, seeks new license plate reader vendor

FERNDALE, Mich. (FOX 2) - Ferndale severed its contract with automatic license plate reader (ALPR) company Flock Safety on Thursday after hearing concerns about the technology that has been around the city since last year.

City officials say ALPRs aren't going away, though, and they are now looking for a new vendor to supply these cameras that scan license plates.

The backstory:

Ferndale, one of multiple cities in the Metro Detroit area that utilize ALPRs, just wrapped up a pilot program with Flock license plate readers. This pilot was approved in 2023, and the cameras were installed at 16 locations around the city in 2024. One of those cameras was removed later, and more were scheduled to be removed after the city determined some were not producing enough data.

Flock cameras provide a still image to police of a vehicle and a photo of the vehicle's license plate and put them into a database that can be accessed by investigators as they work to solve crimes. The company said the cameras do not capture faces.

Despite the reassurances that the cameras don't capture faces, the technology has led to some stereotyping fears, worries about how data is being stored, and concerns about the surveillance of innocent people.

Worries about reader misuse even led to the American Civil Liberties Union proposing guidelines that law enforcement agencies should follow if they choose to implement the technology. 

The Ferndale Police Department has previously shared its Flock policy, and also has a requirement in place that officers must manually verify a Flock license plate hit before stopping a vehicle. According to the city, this has led to zero plate misreads during the pilot program. Additionally, city officials said that license plate reader data is not accessible by federal law enforcement, and is not used for immigration enforcement – two big concerns about this type of surveillance. 

What they're saying:

Ferndale officials cited Flock cameras with helping solve several big crimes, namely a murder in the city and a double murder in neighboring Hazel Park.

According to the city, Flock data was used to track down a suspect accused of shooting and killing a DoorDash driver on Woodward earlier this year. The cameras also helped locate a man accused of killing his sister and her son inside a Hazel Park home in September.

Flock cameras have also been used during investigations into a number of other crimes, including larceny, fleeing and eluding, stolen vehicle searches, and assaults. 

At a community meeting about ALPRs on Thursday, Ferndale Police Chief Dennis Emmi said the plate readers have led to suspects who may not have been identified otherwise.

"Is it possible we would have solved it without [Flock]? Maybe, maybe not," he said. "That's not a chance that I'm willing to take. I would rather depend on technology."

During the city council's Sept. 29 meeting, it was recommended that the city extend its contract with Flock, a recommendation that did not move forward after conversations with residents, the city manager, and city council members led to the police department making the decision to switch to another vendor. 

Community feedback:

Residents have spoken about Flock at both city council meetings and community meetings scheduled by the city to collect input.

Some who are concerned about Flock cameras shared worries about how the data collected is used, including the potential for data being accessed by federal authorities despite the company saying that this is not happening. One person who spoke at a recent city council meeting said they were concerned about decisions not being publicly made. 

"I think we haven't done our due diligence as a community, as a city council, as a police department," Peggy Harp said to the city council. "I think it's a big ask that we trust this technology from a for-profit company, backed by venture capital, and they have shown themselves to be untrustworthy." 

Harp also referenced Evanston, Ill., a city that terminated its contract with Flock after the state's Secretary of State discovered that U.S. Customs and Border Protection gained access to Illinois license plate camera data, according to a press release from SOS Alexi Giannoulias. This was found during an audit announced in June. According to Flock, changes were implemented in June to prohibit immigration-related searches using data from its cameras.

Though the decision to end the Flock contract came after concerns were raised about the company and technology, others supported license plate readers to keep the community safe.

One person who spoke at Thursday's community meeting, which was held after the city terminated its Flock contract, said that with the rise in cameras on businesses and homes, there should be no expectation of privacy when out.

"So, common sense tells me that any type of surveillance that keeps our officers safe, our businesses, our residents, our family, and our children safe needs to be supported," said the person, who did not identify themselves but said their father is a police officer. "Doubting the choices of our police force here says more about us than it does about them."

Amy Wilcox, the superintendent of the Hazel Park school district, which has several schools in Fendale, attended Thursday's meeting to speak about how license plate readers helped catch the man accused of killing one of her students, the boy killed in the Hazel Park double murder.

"Without that, we would not have been able to get that the way we did," she said. "That cooperation was key to catching his murderer, and it's key to keeping our schools safe."

What's next:

Now that the city has ended its partnership with Flock, it will be vetting potential vendors.

"The police department's goal is to balance ethical standards and the expectations of the community, while providing investigators the necessary tools to solve crime," Emmi said.

The police chief laid out what the department is looking for in its next license plate reader company.

"We're looking for character and reputation, quality and reputation of the vendor, cost-effectiveness, customer service and maintenance, image quality and accuracy, intuitive search software, and hopefully, a sizable network so we can maximize the potential of the technology," he said.

It is unknown how long it will take for the city to settle on a new vendor.

When asked why the city would end the Flock contract before having a replacement, thus leading to a gap in coverage, Emmi said the consensus was that the community was not happy with Flock.

"I understand there is a strong feeling in the community that they did not want Flock as a vendor in particular," he said. "I know there's feelings about the technology. The consensus was that our community was not happy with a vendor we had to sever."

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