Documented Incident
East Lansing police share Flock data with 100+ Michigan agencies as oversight questions grow
Event: October 13, 2026 · First reported: October 13, 2026 · 1 source
An East Lansing Info investigation found that during a 30-day window in July and August, East Lansing Police Department officers searched the city's own Flock license plate reader data fewer than 200 times, while other Michigan agencies searched it tens of thousands of times. ELPD Capt. Adrian Ojerio told the City Council on Sept. 15 that the department shares data only with approved Michigan partner agencies and credited the single mobile camera with generating leads in vehicle theft, criminal sexual conduct and weapons cases. Members of the city's Human Rights Commission said at an Oct. 5 meeting that the sharing is too broad for ELPD to meaningfully oversee. The department has since published a Flock transparency page and signed a revised policy on Sept. 21.
The case illustrates how a single camera owned by one small department can feed a statewide search network, raising questions about which agency is accountable for how the data is used. It also shows the oversight tools — retention limits, audit rates and transparency pages — that councils elsewhere may weigh.
Key facts
- ELi reported ELPD officers ran fewer than 200 searches of the city's Flock data over 30 days in July–August, while other Michigan agencies ran tens of thousands; ELPD could reach up to 855 networks.
- ELPD's transparency page lists data sharing with more than 100 Michigan law enforcement agencies, including the Gogebic County Sheriff's Office in the western Upper Peninsula.
- A policy signed by Chief Jennifer Brown on Sept. 21 cut data retention from 30 days to seven — still above the ACLU's recommended 48 hours — and raised audits from 10 searches per year to 10 per quarter.
- Commissioner Jonathan Forman, a defense attorney, cited an Oklahoma federal ruling by Judge Sara Hill that an officer's warrantless ALPR location search violated the Fourth Amendment; the ruling did not find Flock cameras themselves unlawful.
- East Lansing operates one Flock camera, mounted on a mobile trailer placed on roadways such as Grand River Avenue.
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- Privacy Concerns Persist as ELPD Shares Flock Data Broadly With Michigan Police Agencies (East Lansing Info, October 13, 2026)
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About this record
BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.
Updated October 13, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.