The Brief License plate readers like Flock cameras being used by local police have been met with increasing pushback. New concerns are being raised that SE Michigan police are using Flock cameras to help ICE. FOX 2 contacted police departments involved in a investigation by the Detroit News to learn about their Flock use and how they worked with ICE.



License plate readers, like Flock cameras, continue to be a controversial topic as more Metro Detroit cities have voted to end their security contracts.

The backstory:

New concerns are being raised that local law enforcement agencies could be using the Flock data to aid Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. It all started as a Detroit News analysis of USA Today data for an investigation.

Each scenario depends on each department, but five incidents mentioned in the investigation included the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, as well as police departments in Brownstown, Southfield, Taylor and Troy.

Each department had a different scenario with Flock assisting in cases.

Oakland County Sheriff's Office Flock case

Dig deeper:

The sheriff's office had an ex-employee who was allegedly accessing Flock data and looking up information, although FOX is still working to get to the bottom of exactly what were looking up.

An office spokesperson did respond, saying this is an ex-employee, and there could be criminal charges that result from it.

Taylor Police Flock case

Dig deeper:

In Taylor, the chief said there is a level of partnership with ICE. Chief John Blair said the department is not going to do anything different than they were doing in the past, and if someone is here illegally, it will work with the feds on the case.

FOX 2 also looked into cases in Brownstown, Southfield and Troy where they were looking up immigration information with ICE in cross-connected cases.

Flock in Southfield, Troy

Dig deeper:

In Troy, they had a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation going on where ICE got involved.

In Southfield, a human trafficking case escalated into being outside of Michigan. That's when ICE got involved.

What they're saying:

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