The Van Buren County Commission approved a resolution authorizing the sheriff to gather information regarding acquisition and installation of Flock Safety visual monitoring devices (commonly described as license-plate readers) for law-enforcement use.

County counsel said the resolution, presented at the sheriff’s request, would allow the sheriff to investigate funding and technical details and then present findings to the commission for a final decision. A commissioner said the devices "are essentially license plate readers," and another voiced privacy concerns.

The motion to authorize the sheriff’s information-gathering and endorsement of the study passed by roll call with one commissioner recorded as opposed.

Next steps: the sheriff’s office will prepare a briefing with costs, deployment locations, data-retention practices, and vendor terms for the commission to consider in open session.