System status: Flock ALPR deployment supported by city and current public records
Campaign status: Obtain and challenge the reported new agreement
Last verified: October 20, 2026
An October federal announcement says Inkster signed a long-term contract.
On October 14, 2026, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib announced new federal surveillance legislation at an event in Inkster. Her official press release says Inkster officials had recently signed a long-term contract with Flock.
Official congressional announcement from Inkster ↗
That is a significant update, but it is not the contract itself. We have not yet located the executed 2026 order, exact term, price, products, approval date or vote record in the city’s public archive. Until those records are published, the careful description is:
a new long-term agreement is reported by an official federal source; its controlling local documents remain missing from our file.
The legislation announced at the event—H.R. 10807—was introduced in Congress and referred to committee. It has not become law and does not automatically cancel Inkster’s agreement.
See the current Michigan and federal legislation status →
Inkster’s original public proposal was six Flock plate readers.
The October 2, 2023 Inkster City Council packet asked council to authorize an agreement with Flock Group, Inc. to lease:
- six automated license-plate-reader cameras;
- for $20,900 in the first year, including installation;
- using federal Justice Assistance Grant funds;
- with the police department planning to budget $18,000 annually afterward.
Read the official October 2, 2023 Inkster council packet
The agenda language documents the proposed quantity, funding and expected recurring cost. We have not yet located the complete signed order form or a clean final vote record in the city’s public archive.
Later public records and mapped equipment support that Inkster did proceed with a Flock ALPR system, but the controlling contract remains the record that should settle the term and renewal questions.
Residents raised the issue again in August 2026.
Minutes from the August 3, 2026 Inkster City Council meeting record a resident questioning the city’s Flock surveillance technology, citing privacy and safety concerns and asking the city to reevaluate it. No contract action was recorded at that meeting.
Indexed account of the August 3, 2026 Inkster minutes
This is important because it establishes current public concern. It does not establish whether the agreement was renewed in 2024, 2025 or 2026, nor when the next cancellation window occurs.
What is publicly visible today?
Volunteer map data currently shows seven Flock-tagged points inside Inkster’s municipal boundary. Six are attributed by contributors to Inkster Police and one has no identified operator.
Current Inkster community-mapping summary
That closely resembles—but does not exactly match—the six-camera 2023 city proposal. Possible explanations include a later addition, a privately operated device, an attribution error, a moved camera or an incomplete city record.
The map is a lead, not an official inventory. A different map using a broad “around Inkster” radius produces a much larger number by pulling in devices outside the city boundary. We do not use that regional-radius count as Inkster’s camera total.
No additional Flock product is confirmed yet.
The Inkster records we located specifically identify automated license-plate readers.
We did not locate a reliable public record showing an Inkster purchase of:
- Condor live or recorded video cameras;
- Raven acoustic or gunshot detection;
- Nova data fusion;
- a Flock drone-as-first-responder system;
- Wing integration for non-Flock cameras;
- or a private/community-camera registry.
That should be read as an evidence limit, not proof that no add-on, free trial or shared regional capability exists.
Learn what Condor and Raven do and why connected products matter →
The current renewal window is the most important unknown.
The 2023 proposal anticipated an annual city expense after grant-funded installation. That makes the current order, invoice and nonrenewal deadline immediately useful campaign records.
Inkster residents need to know:
- whether the original agreement renewed automatically;
- the present camera and subscription count;
- what the city paid in each fiscal year;
- when notice must be given to avoid another term;
- whether removal or early termination carries a fee;
- and whether the vendor or city can add software features without a separate council vote.
Highest-value Inkster records
Ask for:
- the executed Flock agreement, order form and master services agreement;
- the October 2023 final resolution or vote record;
- all renewals, amendments, quotes, invoices and purchase orders since 2023;
- the current device inventory, locations, camera status and funding sources;
- every enabled product, add-on, trial or integration;
- retention, search, alert, hot-list, audit and sharing policies;
- current inbound and outbound agency-sharing lists;
- de-identified search logs and audit findings;
- complaints, discipline or misuse investigations involving ALPR access;
- and the expiration, auto-renewal, nonrenewal and deletion/removal terms.
If the city asserts that safeguards exist, the written policy, technical settings and audits should be published so residents can verify them.
Send an Inkster record or correction →
Our current Inkster ask
Put the current agreement and actual operating configuration in public view. Do not add cameras or new Flock products while residents still lack the controlling records.
At the next available exit:
Decline renewal, end outside access, complete data closeout and remove the system.