Ferndale — Residents and civil‑rights advocates pressed city officials on the future of automatic license‑plate readers (ALPRs) at a community forum after the Ferndale Police Department ended its contract with Flock Safety. Speakers warned that certain vendors share data with federal immigration authorities and urged the city to adopt strict safeguards.

"Please make sure they're not giving information to ICE either directly or even through ... Detroit, for example," said Jet Salome, a civil‑rights and immigration attorney with Care Michigan, praising the department for canceling the Flock agreement and urging the city to prevent downstream data access to immigration enforcement.

The warning echoed broader privacy concerns raised by multiple attendees, who described ALPRs as a form of mass surveillance. "I don't want any kind of ALPR in our community," said Jonathan, a Ferndale resident, arguing that social services, housing and community supports are more effective crime‑reduction tools than expanded surveillance.

City staff told the forum that they are vetting replacement options and plan to move quickly. A city representative said the administration will "include a policy not to share with federal agencies," and that vendor announcements will be communicated through usual channels such as the communications department and council agenda.

Several speakers cautioned that local policy has limits when data flows through national lookup networks or when federal grant conditions effectively require data sharing with federal partners. One attendee pointed to a recent Washington state court decision about public‑records access to ALPR data and asked whether the city can craft a policy robust to evolving legal interpretations.

Supporters of the technology said ALPRs have helped solve serious crimes. One resident cited a homicide investigation and said ALPR data likely assisted police in identifying suspects. The city representative acknowledged the department had used the technology for criminal investigations and said Flock Safety's change in "national lookup" policy without notice was a primary reason for ending that contract.

Members of the Ferndale Inclusion Network and immigrant‑rights advocates described being excluded from prior advisory processes and urged the city to hold broader community conversations about ethics, civil liberties and public safety before committing funds to a new vendor.

City staff closed the meeting by saying that more engagement events are planned and that an invitation‑only stakeholder meeting was scheduled for the following morning. No formal vote or ordinance was taken at the forum.

What happens next: City staff said they will continue vendor vetting, adopt a stated policy not to share ALPR data with federal agencies, and hold additional community engagement sessions. Advocates said they will press for stronger accountability measures, public reporting on ALPR uses, and clarity about whether federal grants or national lookup services could undercut local controls.