A Flock Safety license plate reader camera — the first documented in Leelanau County, according to the crowdsourced tracking site DeFlock — is mounted to a light post at the entrance of Leelanau Sands Casino off M-22, angled toward the parking lot.
Traverse City and the Old Mission Peninsula are littered with these AI monitoring cameras at busy intersections that track not only license plates, but car decals, car damage, and more. All that data is stored in a database, with a total of 28 currently in use in Grand Traverse County alone.
The camera at Leelanau Sands Casino covers the far northern entrance to the casino, leading to the Lodge across from the gas station.
Flock Safety is an Atlanta-based company, led by CEO Garrett Langley, that makes automated license plate reader cameras used by police departments, municipalities, HOAs and private businesses nationwide. The cameras log plate numbers, timestamps and vehicle details into a searchable cloud database. The single camera at the casino is positioned close to the highway, capturing traffic entering the lot and leaving, but not reading traffic moving north and south along M-22.
The technology has drawn national scrutiny: more than 50 cities have canceled Flock contracts since 2025 amid concerns that federal immigration authorities accessed local camera data without cities' knowledge or consent, while law enforcement supporters credit the cameras with helping solve crimes and recover stolen vehicles. Flock says customers retain control over their own data-sharing settings.
DeFlock (deflock.me) is a crowdsourced mapping project that tracks the locations of automated license plate reader cameras — Flock and other brands — across the country. Volunteers submit camera sightings, and the site plots them on a public map.
The Leelanau County Sheriff’s Department has also looked into broader surveillance systems, such as a license plate reader network Flock Safety, which uses fixed cameras to track vehicle movements across roadways and intersections.
A proposal to install traffic cameras throughout the county failed to gain traction in August 2025.
Sheriff Mike Borkovich and Undersheriff Jim Kiessel appeared before commissioners last August with a proposal for a 60-day traffic study which would include installation of 12 traffic-related cameras at locations throughout the county.
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