System status: Confirmed operating Flock ALPR system
Decision status: Continuation placed on the October 20, 2026 council agenda; outcome pending
Council is being asked whether to continue the system.
The official Sterling Heights agenda for Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 7:00 PM lists Item 8.A:
To consider the continuation of a Government Service Agreement between the City of Sterling Heights and Flock Group, Inc. for access to a Flock Automatic License Plate Reader camera system.
The agenda identifies an annual cost of $84,100, paid entirely from state forfeiture funds, and lists a presentation by Assistant City Manager Dale Dwojakowski. The meeting is in City Council Chambers at City Hall, 40555 Utica Road.
Open the official October 20 agenda →
This page does not predict the vote. Until the city posts the result, the accurate description is continuation decision pending.
What the city and council have already said
Local 4 reported in August that Sterling Heights operates 24 Flock cameras, that police said officers use the system about 10 to 20 times per day, and that the department shares access with other agencies. Council members raised concerns about outside searches, immigration enforcement and whether the agreement should renew automatically in December.
Local 4: Sterling Heights council raises privacy questions →
Police described investigative benefits, including locating missing people and developing leads in robberies, hit-and-runs and other crimes. Those uses should be acknowledged. The policy question remains whether they justify routinely collecting searchable vehicle-location records from ordinary traffic and making them available through a shared network.
The funding source does not remove the need for scrutiny.
Forfeiture money is still public money under government control. It does not make a surveillance system free, and it does not answer whether the city should continue collecting the data.
Before continuation, residents should be able to inspect:
- the complete current order form and master agreement;
- the expiration date, automatic-renewal clause and final nonrenewal deadline;
- the current 24-camera inventory and operating status;
- retention, search, hot-list, sharing and audit settings;
- every agency able to search Sterling Heights-origin data;
- outside-agency search totals and reasons;
- misuse complaints, audit findings and corrective action;
- and the shutdown, deletion and equipment-removal process.
One clear request
Ask council to decline continuation, prevent automatic renewal, disable outside access, close out routine data and require removal of the city system. If council postpones a decision, require a public date and preserve the nonrenewal window.