TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Garfield Township in Northern Lower Michigan’s Grand Traverse County has contracted with Flock Safety to install 14 cameras that will be used by the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s office. The Traverse City Ticker reports that these license plate readers (LPRs) will be used to assist law enforcement with crime fighting, including alerting them to vehicles that are stolen or involved in crimes and also vehicles that are connected to AMBER alerts. The cameras won’t be used for traffic enforcement as Michigan law bans police officers from using the cameras for that purpose.

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The Garfield Township trustees voted unanimously to contract to get the cameras with a total lease and installation cost of $39,900 for the first year. The cameras, according to The Ticker, will be installed in high-traffic corridors and other strategic locations in the county and will be up and running in the spring, ahead of the tourist season.

There will also be six cameras installed in Peninsula Township after their trustees voted to install them on Old Mission Peninsula. East Bay Township trustees will be looking into the cameras when they meet in March. The Traverse City Police are also interested in discussing the cameras in March as well. Traverse City Police Chief Jeff O’Brien told The Ticker that a key use for the cameras would be to help monitor “critical infrastructure” like the city’s water and wastewater plants and the Union Street Dam.

Captain Randy Fewless of the Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office says that because the townships are paying for the cameras, it gives them more control over where they are placed in the county.

The cameras take still images of the backs of vehicles and use that information to archive license plate numbers in addition to vehicle information like the make, model, and color and also other features of the vehicle. All information is put into a searchable database. The cameras run 24/7 and also have infrared technology to take pictures in the dark. The photos will be deleted after 30 days and will also offer real-time alerts for AMBER alert-connected vehicles and stolen and wanted vehicles.

This kind of technology is being used in 42 states and in 2,000 cities and it’s something that Undersheriff Mike Shea says might have been useful to solve the hit-and-run death of Kelly Boyce-Hulbert that happened in 2013. He said, “Had we had Flock cameras back when we had that tragedy during the Cherry Festival, would we still be standing here saying we have an unsolved hit-and-run?”

The ACLU and others around the state have voiced opposition to the license-plate readers because of privacy issues. The ACLU has concerns about a mass-surveillance database being built and being misused in the future and they want the photos deleted after a few minutes it they don’t generate an immediate hit on a wanted vehicle or crime. The ACLU of Michigan wants a statewide standard governing how the data generated is used by law enforcement and a ban on them sharing the information with any private companies. Gabrielle Dresner, policy strategist for the ACLU of Michigan, says they are looking for “legislation with strict privacy principles that would prevent racking citizens’ movement on a mass scale.”

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Another issue being brought up is the need to make the database exempt from Freedom of Information requests to shield the information from situations like abusive spouses who might want to track down their family member who is trying to escape their abuse.

In Detroit, according to the Detroit News, if you are driving around on the Metro Detroit roads, you are probably photographed dozens of times by police departments and also municipal parking divisions and private companies as well.

Because there is no legal expectation of privacy in public spaces, the LPRs are becoming more popular. Opponents of the use of LPRs say the growing use of them is making people concerned about the possibility of a centralized database that will be misused or acquired by third-parties. They are looking to the government for strict guidelines about how they can and will be used.