The city of Jackson plans to continue using automatic license plate readers from Flock Safety after allocating a federal grant to continuing the city’s contract with the company.
The U.S. Justice Department awarded $42,271 to the Jackson Police Department and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department through a Justice Assistance Grant.
Most of the funds will be used to continue operating 10 Flock cameras throughout the city after City Council members voted 5-2 Tuesday night on a memorandum of understanding with the county and an amendment to the city’s budget.
Jackson has used the artificial intelligence-assisted cameras since 2022. The cameras take photos of moving vehicles to create a database of license plates and other vehicle information that is searchable by police,
Police say the technology has helped them solve crimes, including finding stolen vehicles and arresting suspects in road rage incidents.
But Flock’s cameras, and other similar technology, have recently come under increased scrutiny nationwide due to their rapid spread and reports indicating the collected data has sometimes been shared with federal agencies to assist authorities with immigration enforcement. Also, police officers have employed it to track people in their personal lives. In one case, it was used investigate a woman suspected of having an abortion.
Flock recently decreased the default data retention period and made misuse detection mandatory in an effort to limit abuse of the system.
Jackson resident Matt Tucker said the issue transcends political divides, citing examples of both Democratic and Republican governors in other states endorsing or implementing statewide limits on the technology.
“Why is Jackson trying to create a surveillance state at the same time high-profile leaders from all over the political spectrum are working to ban, remove and prevent future use of these cameras and this technology,” Tucker said.
Bipartisan legislation introduced in Michigan this year would establish statewide guardrails for how data from the artificial intelligence-assisted cameras can be used by police, including a 14-day data retention limit and penalties for improperly accessing information.
The bills have sat in the House Judiciary Committee since January.
A Senate version of the legislation, introduced by Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, in July, has been referred to the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.
Permits have been pulled to hold a “Flock off” rally at the Michigan Capitol on Sept. 26.
Jackson resident Cindy Eby said some residents are circulating a petition to “block Flock” in the city.
“We get the message. We are under your thumb, and you have the power to control us,” Eby said. “However, we are rejecting that message.”
