Kent County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Kent County.
Technology presence
What these categories mean
- ALPR
- Automated license plate readers (ALPR): camera systems that automatically capture, read, and log vehicle license plates with location and time, producing a searchable record of vehicle movements.
- Fixed cameras & RTCC
- Agency-operated fixed video cameras and the real-time crime centers (RTCC) that aggregate live and recorded feeds for monitoring. Extends the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Atlas, which enumerates real-time crime centers and camera registries but not standalone fixed-camera estates.
- Face recognition
- Software that matches faces in images or video against a reference database to identify or verify individuals.
- Drones / UAS
- Uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), commonly called drones, operated by an agency for overhead observation, imaging, or sensing.
- Gunshot detection
- Networks of acoustic sensors that detect and locate suspected gunfire and alert an agency.
- Body-worn & dashcam
- Officer body-worn and in-vehicle dashboard cameras that record encounters; public access to the footage is frequently restricted.
- Doorbell & camera registry
- Programs that give an agency access to privately owned camera footage: doorbell-camera partnerships, citizen camera registries, and private-camera integration platforms.
- Cell-site simulators
- Devices that mimic cell towers to locate or identify nearby mobile phones. They are often called Stingrays, or IMSI catchers after the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number that identifies each phone on a network. Adjacent: communications surveillance outside the visual/sensor core.
- Predictive policing
- Software that forecasts where crime may occur or who may be involved, to direct policing. Adjacent: analytics rather than a sensing deployment.
- Social-media monitoring
- Tools that collect and analyze public social-media activity for an agency. Adjacent: open-source/communications monitoring outside the visual/sensor core.
The record, by agency
Grand Rapids Police Department
The Grand Rapids Police Department has had an automated license plate reader program since 2013. The agency now uses Flock Safety ALPRs.
The Grand Rapids Police Department purchased eight drones, totaling approximately $100,000, in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WoodTVGrand Rapids Police DepartmentGrand Rapids Police Department
The Grand Rapids Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
The Grand Rapids Police Department maintains a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Grand Rapids
Walker Police Department
The Walker Police Department has Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Fox 17
The Walker Police Department began using a drone in 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WZZM 13
The Walker Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Grandville Police Department
The Grandville Police Department has Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Fox 17
The Grandville Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Lowell Police Department
The Lowell Police Department has Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Fox 17
The Lowell Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Rockford Department of Public Safety
The Rockford Department of Public Safety has Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Fox 17
Kentwood Police Department
The Kentwood Police Department installed 10 Flock Safety automated license plate readers in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Mlive
The Kentwood Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Kent County Sheriff's Office
In February 2022, the Kent County Sheriff's Office announced that it would deploy 25 Flock Safety cameras around the county.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): M Live
The Kent County Sheriff's Office has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
The Kent County Sheriff's Office operates one drone as of 2018, according to data compiled by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegewww.faa.gov
Wyoming Police Department
The Wyoming Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
The Wyoming Police Department announced in December 2021 it would install 12 automatic license plate readers throughout the city.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): U.S. News and World Report
East Grand Rapids Department of Public Safety
The East Grand Rapids Department of Public Safety has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Gaines Township Police Department
The Gaines Township Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Gerald R Ford International Airport Police Department
The Gerald R Ford International Airport Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Rockford Department Of Public Safety
The Rockford Department Of Public Safety has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Sparta Police Department
The Sparta Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Rockford Police Department
The Rockford Police Department received $11,820 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to purchase 8 body-worn cameras through the 2022 Small, Rural, Tribal BWC Microgrant program.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Small, Rural, and Tribal Body-Worn Camera microgrant grantee list
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026