Join us for a virtual townhall on the growing threat of mass surveillance in Michigan

Our Take

Credit to ACLU Michigan for doing the unglamorous but necessary work of getting people in a room (even a virtual one) to talk about what's actually happening on their streets. Automated license plate readers don't announce themselves with a press release — they show up quietly on poles and in parking lots, and most residents only find out their town is tracking every car's movements after the contract is already signed. A townhall format matters here because it puts public officials on the record and gives ordinary people a chance to ask the questions that city council agendas usually bury.

Michigan has been a growing front in the Flock Safety expansion, with departments adopting these systems under the usual banner of 'public safety' while skipping meaningful debate about retention windows, data sharing agreements, or who else gets access to that database once it exists. These townhalls work precisely because they force transparency that vendors and some officials would rather avoid. If you're in Michigan, showing up and asking pointed questions about your local department's ALPR use is one of the most effective things you can do.

If you want to know whether your own neighborhood already has cameras watching it, check our camera map before the townhall — and if you want to do more than ask questions, our take-action page has concrete steps for pushing back on surveillance contracts in your area.