Flock Favors: Police Across New York Search Flock on Behalf of ICE

Summary

In this report, S.T.O.P. and LatinoJustice PRLDEF detail how state and local police across New York have searched Flock’s nationwide license plate database on behalf of ICE, including to locate drivers suspected of no crime. The report documents explicit ICE-related searches by police in Nassau County, Beacon, Glen Cove, and Cheektowaga, as well as search patterns involving the New York State Intelligence Center, State Police, and Lancaster police that suggest additional immigration searches may have been hidden behind generic labels.

Key Findings Include:

  • State and local police in New York have searched Flock’s license plate database on behalf of ICE, entering reasons like “Immigration (civil/administrative)” for drivers suspected of no crime;

  • Officers appear to have concealed some—possibly many—immigration searches by providing vague or nonexistent reasons for their searches;

  • New York’s Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, enacted as part of this year’s budget bill, bans formal and informal cooperation with ICE starting August 25;

  • The NYS Attorney General’s new Office of Immigrant Trust is tasked with enforcing the ban, but can only hold officers accountable for searches it can see. New York State must require police to document their license plate reader searches;

  • S.T.O.P. and LatinoJustice PRLDEF also call for statewide limits on law enforcement use of license plate reader tracking; a 48-hour limit on license plate reader data retention; and data-sharing restrictions.

Read the report.

READ THE REPORT