System status: Confirmed Flock deployment
Campaign status: Active research and funding transparency
Next public deadline: November 3, 2026 millage-renewal vote
Last verified: October 20, 2026
The short version
Novi approved a Flock stationary license-plate-reader system in June 2023. City records subsequently described a deployment of 11 cameras, including one movable unit.
The city is now asking voters to renew a one-mill Capital Improvement Program levy for ten years, beginning in July 2027.
That vote deserves scrutiny. It does not, however, justify saying the millage is already designated for more Flock cameras.
The city’s 2026 CIP renewal page says the money would pay for capital improvements and projects rather than operations or payroll. Its published examples include parks and facilities, land, pathways and sidewalks, fire apparatus, heavy equipment and energy-efficiency work. It does not name Flock, ALPR, surveillance cameras or police technology.
Our current evidence-based conclusion is:
Novi’s Flock system is confirmed. A current plan to use the 2026 millage renewal for more Flock equipment is not. Residents should get a clear, written answer before the vote.
What Novi originally approved
On June 5, 2023, Novi City Council approved a sole-source Flock Safety agreement effective July 1, 2023.
The council packet described:
- a stationary license-plate-reader system;
- a first-year cost of $36,500;
- an ongoing annual cost of $30,000;
- an initial focus at Novi Road and I-96;
- and an estimate that eight to ten cameras would be needed.
The purchase was budgeted to the city’s General Fund 101, not the capital-improvement millage fund.
The city’s own explanation said the system would capture license plates, location, date and time, plus photographs that could sometimes include a driver or passenger.
Read the official June 5, 2023 Novi council record
The deployment expanded beyond the first intersection
An official December 18, 2023 resolution concerning equipment in Michigan Department of Transportation rights-of-way referred back to a city budget that included 10 LPR camera systems.
The listed areas included:
- Novi Road and I-96;
- Beck Road and I-96;
- 12 Mile Road and M-5;
- and 8 Mile Road and Haggerty Road.
Read the official December 18, 2023 Novi resolution
A later police-department budget report marked the Novi Road/I-96 project complete and described 11 cameras, including one movable LPR.
See the city’s FY 2024–25 departmental budget material
The January 6, 2025 city check register also shows a $7,500 payment to Flock Safety for a “Falcon camera system” for police.
See the official January 6, 2025 Novi check register
These records establish procurement and deployment. They do not, by themselves, establish the exact inventory, configuration or contract terms in force today.
What does the November millage proposal actually say?
The current one-mill capital levy expires in July 2026. Novi’s November 3, 2026 ballot proposal would authorize up to one mill for ten years beginning in July 2027. The city estimates approximately $5.41 million in the first year.
The proposal is broad. It authorizes capital improvements and projects, including—but not limited to—parks and facilities, land acquisition, pathways, fire trucks and heavy equipment.
The city’s page says the money cannot be used for operations or payroll.
Read Novi’s ballot language, examples and information-session schedule
What we can say
- The proposal would create a substantial, broadly worded capital fund.
- Novi has previously treated the original LPR deployment as a budgeted equipment project.
- The existing Flock purchase and recurring fee were identified in General Fund records.
- The published 2026 renewal page does not identify Flock or ALPR as a planned project.
- We did not locate a Flock, license-plate-reader or ALPR line in the city’s published FY 2026–27 recommended budget through a text search. Large municipal budget files can be difficult to search, so that is a research result—not proof that no internal proposal exists.
What we cannot yet say
- that millage money is earmarked for more Flock cameras;
- that the fund could pay an ongoing Flock subscription despite the stated bar on operations;
- that a camera expansion is in the city’s current six-year capital plan;
- or that approval of the millage would automatically approve any surveillance purchase.
The useful question is not “Can we make the most alarming inference?”
It is:
Will any revenue from this proposal be used for ALPRs, Flock, Condor, Raven, Nova/FlockOS, Axon ALPR, a real-time crime center or private-camera integration—and what separate public approval would be required?
Understand Condor, Raven and connected Flock products →
Ask before November 3
Novi lists public information sessions for:
- September 24, 2026, 6–7 p.m. at the Civic Center;
- October 6, 2026, 6–7 p.m. at Lakeshore Park;
- and October 10, 2026, 10–11 a.m. at Novi Public Library.
Check the official renewal page before attending in case details change.
Residents can ask for an on-the-record answer to five questions:
- Does any adopted, recommended, illustrative or internal capital-project list include ALPRs, Flock products or another surveillance-camera system?
- Could this fund pay for camera hardware, poles, networking, installation, integration or related software?
- Could it pay any recurring subscription or renewal cost, given the restriction on operations?
- Would every surveillance purchase return to City Council for a separately identified public vote?
- Will the city publish the project list and funding source before committing money?
An answer of “not currently planned” should be preserved in writing and checked against later budgets, invoices and council packets.
Novi’s own public explanation
On August 19, 2026, the city published an interview with Police Chief Erick Zinser titled Use of Flock Cameras in Novi Explained. It presents the police department’s explanation of uses, policy and safeguards.
Watch the City of Novi interview on YouTube
That is useful first-party material. It should be compared with the actual contract, written policy, search logs, sharing settings and audit records rather than treated as a substitute for them.
Regional sharing is part of the picture
On September 16, 2026, Michigan Advance reported that South Lyon had granted Novi access to its Flock camera data, along with access for numerous other agencies.
Read the Michigan Advance report
That establishes at least one reported outside-agency connection. It does not establish every agency Novi shares with, how often Novi searches another community’s records, or the full historical sharing network.
South Lyon subsequently voted 5-2 not to renew Flock, ordered police to stop using the system and covered its cameras pending removal. Novi should disclose when its access to South Lyon-origin data ended and whether any saved exports, alerts or case records remain.
See the current South Lyon status →
Those details should come from current Flock sharing settings, audit logs and written agreements.
Camera maps are leads, not the official inventory
Volunteer map data can help locate possible equipment, but it changes and may be incomplete, duplicated or misattributed.
Use the DeFlock camera map to generate leads. Confirm the current count, owner, product and operating status through city records before publishing a number as official.
Records Novi still owes the public
The most useful current records are:
- every executed Flock agreement, order form, renewal, amendment and current quote;
- the current expiration date, nonrenewal deadline and termination terms;
- current equipment inventory, locations and funding source;
- all Flock products or modules enabled, including Condor, Raven, Nova, FlockOS and camera integrations;
- current retention, hot-list, alert, search and audit policies;
- a current list of agencies with inbound or outbound data access;
- search and audit statistics, including searches of other jurisdictions’ records;
- the status and purpose of the 2025 Falcon payment;
- and any proposed surveillance project tied to the 2027–2032 capital plan or millage-renewal proceeds.
If somebody already has these records, share them instead of filing a duplicative request.
See why Condor and Raven must be requested separately from ALPR →
Send a Novi record or correction →
Our current Novi ask
Before the November vote, publish a clear answer about whether the proposed capital fund can or will support surveillance technology.
Then address the operating system on its own merits:
Do not expand it. Publish the current contract and sharing picture. Decline the next renewal and remove the system.
Learn how to investigate a system that is already operating →