Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Kalamazoo public safety chief defends Flock license‑plate readers amid public privacy concerns
Summary
Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety (KDPS) Chief Boysen told the commission license‑plate‑reader (Flock) cameras are used for criminal investigations and are not used for immigration enforcement; public commenters urged removal, citing federal access and civil‑liberties risks. The commission approved the consent agenda; no change to camera policy was adopted.
KDPS Chief Boysen provided an extended briefing to the commission on Feb. 2 describing how the department uses license‑plate‑reader (LPR) cameras (commercially known as Flock in public comment) and the department's controls for data access.
Boysen said LPRs capture digital images of vehicles and license plates, with metadata for date, time and location; he said KDPS retains control of the data, shares it only with approved regional law‑enforcement partners, and that images are automatically deleted after 30 days by the vendor. He told the commission the department prohibits use of LPR data for immigration enforcement or for investigations related to…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
