Ferndale’s City Council on Monday postponed a vote on a proposed five‑year agreement with Axon to install automated license‑plate readers (ALPRs), saying more community engagement and contractual safeguards are needed.

The council moved to table the Axon agreement after lengthy public comment that included both praise for ALPRs as a crime‑fighting tool and strong concern about privacy, data sharing and the rapid timeline for replacing the terminated Flock Safety pilot. Councilmembers and staff debated technical and contractual questions about data hosting, retention, third‑party access and prohibitions on facial‑recognition or human‑analytics features.

Chief (Ferndale Police Department) told council the department began a pilot with Flock Safety in March 2023 and has operated without ALPRs since Nov. 13 after concerns about the prior vendor’s data‑sharing practices. Staff said Axon, which the department already uses for body‑worn cameras and evidence storage (evidence.com), was the best fit after reviewing Genetec, Motorola and Recor on criteria that included data security, accuracy and cost. The chief recommended scaling the program from 15 pilot cameras to nine and funding it with drug forfeiture funds, citing an approximate per‑camera cost of $2,465.95 per year and a five‑year total cost of $110,009.67; the first contract year would be deferred and the city budgeted $27,000 for years 2–5.

Many residents urged delay. Andrea Popovich said the speed of the procurement — less than two weeks from contract termination to a recommended replacement — felt rushed and denied residents and newly elected council members meaningful review. Angela Lippard and other speakers called for independent civil‑liberty experts to review the proposed terms and for clearer public engagement. Speakers also raised equity concerns about camera placement along corridors such as 8‑Mile and 9‑Mile.

Axon representatives (Jordan and Dom) and the chief answered detailed council questions about where data would be hosted, whether Axon could access agency data, whether outpost hardware supports full‑frame video or human‑analytics, retention and deletion procedures, audit rights, and how mid‑contract changes to terms would be handled. Axon representatives said evidence.com stores evidence and that Axon does not access municipal data without authorization; the chief said the city would set retention consistent with its ordinance (30 days) and perform quarterly policy audits. Several technical points were deferred for written follow‑up (hosting geography, de‑identified data practices, and legal review of contract language).

Councilmember (Speaker 3) presented draft contract‑addendum language that would (among other items) prohibit Axon from using Ferndale ALPR data for training or analytics, require case‑specific written approvals for third‑party access (including DHS/FBI/ICE), bar live streaming or integration with real‑time monitoring platforms, and require 90 days’ notice and express municipal approval for any provider terms changes.

To buy time for negotiation and a public education/feedback session with a neutral facilitator, Councilmember (Speaker 4) moved to table the Axon item to the second regular meeting in December. The motion passed 4–1 on roll call: Johnson Yes; Mikulski Yes; Kelly Yes; Polica No; Leaksmay Yes. City staff committed to coordinate a neutral, council‑led session; the city manager said staff and Axon counsel could negotiate contract language in the interim.

What’s next: Council directed staff to pursue a public engagement/education session (intended to explain the technology, how it will and will not be used, and to gather feedback on a proposed contract addendum) and to negotiate contract protections with Axon and outside reviewers (including the ACLU, per council direction) before final approval is reconsidered at a future meeting. The chief said installations would not occur before spring and that there is time to amend the master services agreements before hardware deployment.