Mayor LaGrand said that the Flock cameras being used in Grand Rapids have an off switch that doesn’t allow ICE agents to access the images from the cameras

In my most recent article I noted that during the Mayor’s Monday meeting that happened at the Lincoln Park Pavilion, Mayor LaGrand did make a verbal commitment to talking with City Commissioners about adopting a policy that would prohibit Grand Rapids from signing a 287g contract with ICE.

Another interesting thing that Mayor LaGrand said in response to some of the demands that Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have been demanding had to do with not sharing Flock camera images on vehicle license plates with ICE. To this point Mayor LaGrand said that Chief Winstrom said there is a switch on the system, a switch that is currently off that will not allow ICE to access the Flock camera images of vehicles license plates.

First, just because Chief Winstrom says so doesn’t mean it is true. Second, what Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have been saying about the 6 sanctuary policy demands is for the city to adopt those 6 demands so that the demands will become policy, regardless of who is Mayor or is one of the 6 City Commissioners.

I have written several article about the Flock cameras that are being used in Grand Rapids, with the exact location of those cameras.

A local comrade shared with GRIID that in 2012, the GRPD went to the City Commission to request funding for 4 cruiser mounted ALPRs (ALPRs are similar to Flock cameras), which the commission approved.

In 2015, the City of Grand Rapids adopted their current surveillance policy, which you can find here. The PDF at the link clearly states that “Any City department intending to acquire, use, or deploy new surveillance equipment or surveillance services after March 14, 2015 shall obtain City Commission approval prior to the initial acquisition, use, or deployment of that equipment or service.”

However, there is an exemption in that policy which states:

“a. City Departments may acquire and use new surveillance equipment or surveillance services that are substantially similar to surveillance equipment or surveillance services that were previously approved in accordance with this policy in order to replace equipment due to failure without following the provisions of this policy prior to such acquisition or use. b. Equipment failure refers to any event in which any equipment cannot accomplish its intended purpose or task. It may also mean that the equipment stopped working, is not operating properly, or is scheduled for a contractual routine upgrade with substantially similar equipment. c. Should a department seek to acquire, use or deploy additional amounts of surveillance equipment or services that have previously been approved in compliance with this policy, the department need only provide notice to the Public Safety Committee and seek fiscal approval from the City Commission’s Fiscal Committee.”

The Flock cameras that are mounted at street corners and major intersections have only been in use since 2022. However, the GRPD did not obtain City approval for the Flock cameras that are located on streets throughout the city. The City claims, that the flock cameras meet the extremely narrow exemption from the surveillance policy above – “City Departments may acquire and use new surveillance equipment or surveillance services that are substantially similar to surveillance equipment or surveillance services that were previously approved in accordance with this policy“

The thing is that the 4 Flock cameras that were mounted on GRPD cruisers were used for checking plates against lists of stolen vehicles. With the three dozen Flock cameras that are located around Grand Rapids, they are subject to being used by ICE agents to track undocumented immigrants, especially if there is no formal policy in place to prohibit the City from sharing that information with federal agents.