Illinois Cops Gave ICE Access to More Than 5,000 Surveillance Cameras Nationwide
A public records request from the Danville, Illinois, police department obtained by 404 Media revealed that local and state police around the country searched automatic license plate reader (ALPR) camera data more than 4,000 times for immigration related reasons between June 1, 2024, and May 5, 2025. Despite an Illinois law prohibiting the use of ALPR data for immigration enforcement, these records suggest that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has informally gained access to camera networks across more than 5,000 communities nationwide.Â
The technology provider in question, Flock Safety, has over 40,000 ALPR cameras across the United States that use artificial intelligence to constantly record the plates, color, and make of passing vehicles. The cameras can also register unique features of vehicles like missing hubcaps. The data is kept for 30 days and can be searched to find a vehicle, and by extension, a person.Â
Flock markets its services as a solution for combating crimes like carjackings or finding missing persons. The company claims to help solve an average of over 2,200 crimes per week using its technology. Â
According to the Flock Safety User Guide, once a law enforcement agency, like the Danville Police Department, joins the Flock family, officers can not only search data from its specific community’s cameras but also access the data of users across the nation “who are also opted into the National Lookup” capability. But it’s not just police departments making up the Flock network. Major companies, neighborhood homeowner associations, and affordable housing communities also use the technology, and can share data.Â
But this expansive system is now capable of tracking drivers’ movements and patterns, and providing real-time alerts of a license plate’s location across the U.S.—typically without a warrant or court order.
Without proper oversight, this network amo
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