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Warren extends license‑plate reader contract amid privacy questions from council
Summary
The council approved a two‑year extension for the Flock Safety license‑plate reader system after debate over data sharing, audit controls and the retroactive timing of the contract; police officials described recent cases solved using the system.
Warren City Council voted to extend the contract for the city’s license‑plate reader (LPR) system for an additional two‑year period at a total cost of $132,000.
Councilmember Nunan asked that the item be removed from the consent agenda to allow discussion about data sharing, third‑party access and potential legal exposure. Nunan said he expected data to be largely controlled within local law enforcement and expressed concern that, in other jurisdictions, information sharing had led to litigation. He said he planned to vote against the extension unless the city clarified access controls.
A Warren Police Department representative (Mr. Roy) described the system as ‘‘one of the most impactful tools we have ever fielded in my time here at Warren PD,’’ and cited multiple recent instances where LPR data helped identify suspect vehicles in homicide, robbery, arson and other violent-crime investigations before detectives were assigned.
Staff explained that agencies can query the network but must provide a lawful search reason and an incident number that is logged and auditable; the city controls its share list and approves external agencies’ access. Council members also asked why the renewal was handled retroactively; staff said contract language revisions delayed finalization and there was no interruption in service.
The roll-call vote recorded four yes votes and two no votes; the extension passed. Councilmembers asked staff to provide: (1) the template of letters and door tags used for the cross-connection program (where requested), and (2) a list and explanation of agencies with access to the LPR share list and the administrative controls that audit queries.
