Public records on license plate reader cameras in Michigan

Police departments across Michigan run networks of automated license plate readers, many of them sold by Flock Safety. This project collects and publishes the public records behind those systems: the contracts, the votes that approved them, the use policies, the search logs, and the lists of who else can search the cameras. We request the records under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act and post what comes back, with the documents. We are starting in Metro Detroit, with Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties first. Why Michigan explains the law we use and its limits.

The record of each request is published as it happens: what we asked, when the agency answered, what it charged, and the documents on both sides: our requests and appeals, the agency's letters, notices, invoices and fee forms. Findings drawn from an agency's records are published after the agency has had seven days to review a draft. No agency's findings have been published yet.

How to read this site

Findings about an agency carry one of five labels.

Record The statement repeats what a document says, and the document is linked.

Gap We asked for this record and did not receive it.

Question The records leave this unanswered. We send each question to the agency in writing, and its answer is published on the page.

Analysis This is our reading of the records, labeled so it is never mistaken for a record.

Reported The statement comes from a named, linked source outside our document library, such as a news report, a published council agenda or another project's data. Where the agency's own records later arrive, they replace it.

Each agency gets a draft of its findings before they are published, and its reply is published in full. Details in Methods.

Where the requests stand

12 awaiting a response 1 fee appeal 2 with records in review

The request log has the timing and fees for each request. The other agencies on the list have not received a request yet.