ICE Activity Sparks Fear Over Potential Misuse of Surveillance Technology

Source Domain: machronicle.com

As federal immigration enforcement has intensified, local police departments’ usage of surveillance technology has been increasingly scrutinized. Flock Safety’s Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs), used by both the East Palo Alto (EPA) and Atherton Police Departments, have emerged as a main target.

Flock was created in 2017 and has quickly come to dominate the ALPR market. ALPRs use optical recognition technology to analyze video from cameras in public areas and compare footage to license plate numbers of vehicles associated with a crime or suspect. Police and investigators are then notified when vehicles of interest are spotted. Atherton currently has 53 cameras, and EPA has 25.

The cameras have sparked controversy nationwide, as cases of the technology allegedly being used for stalking, harassment, and immigration enforcement have gained national attention. Given Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in EPA in the past seven months, many have questioned whether these cameras could be misused for immigration enforcement purposes locally.

Flock explicitly states on their website that ICE does not have direct access to the data. However, 404 Media reported that, as of May 2025, upward of 4,000 searches had been conducted at the request of the federal government nationally, with the purpose of “immigration.”

Furthermore, the city of Mountain View announced that federal agencies—unrelated to immigration enforcement—accessed the city’s Flock databases in 2024. According to Mountain View, this incident occurred because Flock enabled a “nationwide” search setting without the city’s consent or knowledge.

Since this incident, Flock’s “systems have been improved and that they no longer enable any access sharing outside of the State of California,” according to a statement released by the city of Mountain View.

“Our community has a very large immigrant community, and that is a concern,” EPA City…

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