ST. CLAIR SHORES (WWJ) -- Days after a vote by the St. Clair Shores city council, all 12 Flock surveillance cameras in the city have been covered.
Late Wednesday night, the cameras were covered by black plastic bags, rendering them unusable with a six-month moratorium in place.
Flock cameras are AI-powered license plate readers used by law enforcement and private neighborhoods to automatically capture, analyze, and alert authorities to passing vehicles' license plates and physical characteristics in real time. Critics argue this creates a warrantless mass-surveillance network that tracks everyday movements and risks infringing on privacy, while police say it's a helpful tool to catch the bad guys.
WWJ's Charlie Langton reports the moratorium is meant to give the city time to study the various issues, and figure out the city's next move.
Opinions, meanwhile, are mixed in the community.
Langton asked St. Clair Shores resident Ron Rose if the camera make him feel safer in his city.
"I don't know about safe, because they ain't gonna stop people from doing what they do," Ross said. "But it might help them bring justice to somebody that just might've got shot or stabbed or something."
St. Clair Shores resident Ron Colasanti said he doesn't want his privacy invaded.
And he just doesn't trust what police might do with the info they gather.
"Wasn't it Eastpointe where a cop was following his girlfriend around? His ex-wife or something? Not cool," Colasanti said.
Eastpointe recently ended its contract with Flock following allegations of employee system misuse and privacy concerns raised by residents. Other local communities that have discontinued use of the Flock system include Ferndale, Westland, Clawson and Independence Township.
The St. Clair Shores city council says it will revisit the issue in March of 2027.
