Two Eastpointe police officers allegedly misused their access to Flock Safety search tools and one received "severe discipline," the department said, the day after the city terminated its contract with the Atlanta-based surveillance technology company.
The department opened internal investigations into the two officers after USA TODAY reporters flagged unusual search activity by the officers in audit logs that were made public through records requests.
"The Eastpointe Police Department received information that two of our employees may have misused the Flock License Plate Readers. After a full investigation, it was determined that both employees did misuse FLOCK; one for personal purposes and the other was a policy violation," Police Chief Corey K. Haines wrote in a press release.
The officer who used Flock for personal reasons received "severe discipline," while the second situation remains under investigation, Haines wrote.
"Additional safeguards have been implemented to prevent the misuse of all sensitive information. The City has and will continue to review any reports of misuse of Flock systems in accordance with City of Eastpointe Police Department policies and procedures," he added.
Haines did not identify the two officers who were investigated and wrote in the press release that individual law enforcement personnel records are exempt from disclosure.
According to a database published by USA TODAY, one Eastpointe officer performed more than 600 searches for a single vehicle between August 2024 and June 2025. Another searched for one plate more than 60 times on a single day in July 2024.
Flock provides automated license plate reader technology to agencies across 49 U.S. states, including around 180 police departments and county sheriff offices in Michigan. The company operates more than 120,000 cameras nationwide, which capture images of vehicles as they drive by, allowing police to search for a vehicle across a massive data-sharing network.
The company touts its product as a game-changer for police, helping them solve crimes and track down missing persons faster than traditional investigative tools. But critics of the technology say it enables mass surveillance.
"We take the misuse of Flock information seriously. Anomalous usage patterns in the system have been met with full investigation," Eastpointe Mayor Michael Klinefelt wrote in a text message.
"Given the potential for misuse and the growing concerns residents have over this type of surveillance technology, [City] Council found it prudent to discontinue usage of Flock cameras at this time," he wrote.
Klinefelt, who proposed terminating the city's contract, told The News on Wednesday that multiple residents had reached out to him and expressed concerns about the city's contract with Flock.
Eastpointe installed 18 Flock cameras around the city in 2024, after the City Council approved the move. But the city joined other Metro Detroit communities like Ferndale, Clawson and Independence Township by ending its relationship with Flock Tuesday night. Other cities, like St. Clair Shores, have weighed imposing additional restrictions on the technology.
Haines, the police chief, wrote in a press release, "The police department has discontinued the use of FLOCK and is awaiting further direction from city council/city administration. The police department will continue to investigate all crimes using all other available law enforcement tools, without the assistance of FLOCK."
The original 24-month contract, signed on March 19, 2024, included $14,100 to install the cameras and an annual $56,500 subscription fee for access to Flock's search tools. The contract was worth $127,100 over two years. The contract auto-renewed for two additional years once it expired in March 2026, according to Eastpointe police Chief Corey K. Haines.
Through its contract with Flock, Eastpointe police had access to search license plates on all cameras linked to the statewide and nationwide Flock network for full, partial and temporary license plates by time and location, and to search camera footage for vehicle features like type, make, color and license plate state.
An investigation by USA TODAY found at least 22 previously undetected instances of police or sheriff's office employees in five states that used the Flock Safety license plate reader network improperly or illegally, leading to multiple arrests and firings. The investigation relied on a database of audit logs from more than 120 police agencies in 24 states, containing records of around 75 million license plate searches nationwide.
Flock did not respond to a request for comment about Eastpointe ending its contract with the company.