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Friend,
You’ve probably heard about Flock by now: it’s the car-tracking company whose license plate readers police have abused for personal vendettas, to find protestors and abortion seekers, and to track immigrants for ICE. S.T.O.P.’s latest report “Flock Favors: Police Across New York Search Flock on Behalf of ICE,” co-authored by national civil rights group LatinoJustice PRLDEF, presents the first evidence that police in New York State have searched Flock’s license plate database on behalf of ICE for drivers suspected of no crime.
Our research found that police in Nassau County, Beacon, Glen Cove, and Cheektowaga, NY searched Flock’s records for immigration-related reasons like “Wanted by ICE” and “Immigration (civil/administrative).” Other officers appear to have concealed immigration searches behind vague and nonexistent reasons.
As of August 25, New York’s Local Cops, Local Crimes Act—enacted as part of this year’s budget bill—bars any formal or informal agreement under which police assist immigration enforcement. Departments in which officers routinely run Flock searches for ICE clearly violate that ban. But the Attorney General’s new Office of Immigrant Trust can only hold officers accountable for searches it can see. That’s why New York must require police to document every license plate reader search. We also call for the state to limit plate searches, delete plate data promptly, and prohibit data sharing for civil immigration enforcement.
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