Lansing City Council is expected to take up a proposal Monday night that calls for the city to end its use of automated license plate readers operated by Flock Safety.
First Ward Council Member Ryan Kost submitted the resolution Thursday. It asks the city administration and Lansing Police Department to terminate all existing contracts and agreements with Flock for the operation of automated license plate reader cameras.
“It’s too much power. Period,” Kost wrote in a Facebook post announcing the proposal.
Flock Safety says its license plate reader cameras capture license plates and vehicle characteristics and turn those records into searchable information that can be used by investigators.
The technology has drawn scrutiny over how information about vehicles is stored, who can access it and how networks of cameras can be used to reconstruct where vehicles have traveled.
Kost’s resolution says advances in artificial intelligence and data analysis have expanded the capabilities of the systems beyond identifying stolen vehicles, including allowing for analysis of travel patterns and associations.
The proposal would also ask Lansing to refrain from entering future agreements for AI-assisted license plate reader systems until the city conducts public engagement and a privacy impact assessment and establishes policies governing data collection, retention, sharing, auditing and oversight.
The proposal comes after months of local opposition to the cameras.
Deflock Lansing is encouraging residents to attend Monday’s meeting. The group is also holding a public meeting Sunday, Aug. 23 at 4:30 p.m. in basement Room C of the Capital Area District Libraries Downtown Lansing branch, 401 S. Capitol Ave. Organizers say the gathering will provide information about the cameras and help residents prepare public comments for Monday’s Council meeting.
The city meeting is set for Monday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. in the Tony Benavides Lansing City Council Chambers on the 10th floor of City Hall, 124 W. Michigan Ave.