Publisher: WXYZ 7 News Detroit (Tiarra Braddock)
Date Published: July 9, 2026
Relevant To: Westland, MI Flock non-renewal via chief discretion (no contested council vote); “accessible nationwide” resident concern
Verification Status: Verified
Notes: Confirmed via full-text fetch. Westland, MI Police Department will not renew its 2-year Flock Safety contract, which expires end of July 2026 — already listed as “Sunsetting” (date 2026-07-09) on the Get the Flock Out of Here! tracker already cataloged in this library (ID 3603), now with a dedicated primary source. Councilwoman Melissa Sampey said City Council was “deeply split,” with resident concerns centering on nationwide data accessibility: “Flock cam can actually be retrieved by anyone across the United States, so a lot of people that came to us were really concerned that their information was going to be accessed by anybody.” Police Chief Kyle Dawley made the final call not to send a renewal contract to Council after hearing resident input at council meetings, despite what he described as a “strong and collaborative professional partnership” between police administration and Council — notable procedurally: rather than forcing a contested council vote, the chief simply chose not to submit the renewal for approval, effectively letting the contract lapse without a formal rejection vote. Resident reactions were mixed in the article’s vox-pop interviews (some supportive of the cameras as crime deterrents, others explicitly citing privacy/over-surveillance concerns). Sampey expressed confidence the department can remain effective without Flock. Useful comparative case for BPA: illustrates a “quiet non-renewal by chief discretion” pattern as an alternative to a contested public council vote for ending an ALPR contract.