Kalamazoo city commissioners adopted a new policy requiring public review of certain surveillance technology contracts, regardless of dollar amount.
The change amends the city’s purchasing policy, which currently allows the city manager and purchasing agent to approve contracts up to $100,000 without commission review. The amendment was raised at a previous commission meeting, after a surveillance-related contract that auto-renewed at a discounted rate fell under that threshold, according to Commissioner Jae Slaby, avoiding the review the commission believed it should have gotten. That meeting ended with commissioners asking city staff to return with a more complete set of options, which City Attorney Aaron Leal presented at their September 21, 2026 meeting.
Four options were on the table. Option A applied only to automated license plate reader contracts. Option B extended the requirement to all law enforcement surveillance technology broadly. Option C extended coverage beyond the police department to every city department, applying to license plate readers, biometric identification technology such as facial or iris recognition, and any existing or future technology capable of identifying, locating, monitoring, or tracking individuals, vehicles, or devices. Option D was the most detailed, defining specific “covered public safety surveillance systems”, including license plate readers, mobile and fixed surveillance cameras, centralized monitoring platforms, and gunshot detection systems, that would require review regardless of cost or funding source.
The commission adopted Option C. Going forward, any city department entering into, amending, renewing, or terminating a contract involving that technology will need to come before the commission for public review before it moves forward, regardless of the contract’s value.
