City of Westland to remove Flock cameras

The city of Westland, Michigan, has started taking down its Flock cameras after community pushback.

The city started removing the cameras, which capture license plate information and other details of all passing vehicles, on Sept. 15. There were 29 Flock cameras across the city.

The city had paid $67,100 for 10 Flock Safety Falcon cameras and access to Flock OS-Essentials software, according to the contract Michigan Capitol Confidential obtained through a records request.

Westland Police Chief Kyle Dawley chose not to renew the contract earlier this summer.

The city rejected a records request seeking the number of vehicle license plates captured during July 2026. It also rejected records requests seeking the number of hits on specific vehicle license plates, saying FOIA law did not require it to create the record.

“To the best of the public body’s knowledge, information, and belief, under the information provided by you or by any other description reasonably known to the public body, the public records do not exist,” the city wrote. “A thorough search was conducted, and no responsive records were located.”

CapCon obtained the city’s previous Flock contract.

The Flock OS has 12 features:

1. Community Network Access: “The ability to request direct access to feeds from privately owned Flock Safety Falcon LPR cameras located in neighborhoods, schools, and businesses in your community, significantly increasing actionable evidence that clears cases.

2. Unlimited Users.

3. State Network: (license plate lookup only): allow agencies to look up license plates on all cameras opted into the Flock Safety network within your state.

4. Nationwide network: With the vast Flock Safety sharing network, law enforcement agencies no longer have to rely on just their devices alone. Agencies can leverage a nationwide system boasting 10 billion additional plate reads per month to amplify the potential to collect vital evidence in otherwise dead-end investigations.

5. Law enforcement Network Access: The ability to request direct access to evidence detection devices from Law Enforcement agencies outside of your jurisdiction.

6. Time and Location based search: Search full, partial, and temporary plate location by time at particular device locations.

7. License plate lookup: Look up specific license plate location history captured on Flock devices.

8. Vehicle fingerprint search: Search footage using Vehicle Fingerprint technology. Access vehicle type, make, color, license plate state, missing/covered plates, and other unique features like bumper stickers, decals, and roof racks.

9. Insights and Analytics: reporting tool to help administrators manage their LPR program with device performance data, user and network audits, plate read reports, got list alert reports, event logs, and outcome reports.

10. ESRI based map interface: map-based interface that consolidates all data streams and the locations of each connected asset, enabling greater situational awareness and a common operating picture.

11. Real-time NCIC Alerts on Flock ALPR cameras: receive automated alerts when vehicles entered into established databases for missing and wanted persons are detected, including the FBI’s National Crime Information Center and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children databases.

12. Unlimited Custom Hot lists: ability to add a suspect’s license plate to a custom list and get alerted when it passes by a Flock camera.

Westland City Council President Mike McDermott did not respond to a request for comment on the Flock cameras.